The Great Adventure Bake Off
by KennBoKenn
Summary: Prince Gumball's throwing the biggest baking competition that Aaa's ever seen and everyone wants in on the mystery prize that's up for grabs, but when betrayal and conspiracy come into play and competitors start dropping out left, right and centre, it's up to Fionna and Marshall to save Bubba's competition. T for humour, language and sexually suggestive themes, may go up. R&R!
1. All or Muffin

**A/N: 'Kay so all these years later I am still a huge slut for _Fionna and Cake_ and just love the idea of there being a baking comp in the Candy Kingdom and it all going to hell, so welcome to a fic that incorporates both these things!**

 **As an avid baker myself and a lover of cooking shows, I'm really gonna pour my heart out into this and hope that it's everything you guys hoped for when you clicked on this fic! I also guess that in a way this is loosely based off _The Great British Bake Off_ (check it out) with the whole star baker and set up of the comp, but it's not involved in the story enough for it to be a cross-over so take it that I've just been inspired by it!**

 **Before I start, I do not own _Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake_ (or _The Great British Bake Off_ ), all rights go to their respective owners and I am just a gal who really enjoys writing about a teen and her magical cat (cause let's be honest, we all want way more _Fionna and Cake_ than what they're giving us!)**

 **If I had to summarize this fic up in a short sentence, it would definitely be ' _non-stop baking with a generous serving of sexual tension_ ', so for that reason this fic is _rated M for sexually suggestive themes_ (aka my dirty humor), _language_ (I can't help it, but I promise I tried) and explicit use of baking puns for chapter titles (see below).**

 **Will this have smut or lemons in it? Hard to say, but it is M rated so the answer is a strong _maybe_ , so keep that in mind if that's not your thing!**

 **If you enjoy this piece please read and review! My writing takes a long time and feedback (good or bad I love it all!) really encourages me so have at it!**

 **Thank you so much for giving this one a chance and please enjoy!**

 **OoOoOoOo**

 **Chapter One: All or Muffin**

"I can't believe it's finally here!" Cake gushed as she raced across a winding dirt path carved out of the green landscape. "Three weeks of marking off my calendar and today's finally arrived! I'm tellin' you now Fionna, the Candy Kingdom has no idea what's comin'!" She formed a fist from one fuzzy paw, hopping on three legs. "Watch out everybody cause Cake's a-comin'!"

Up on top of Cake's back, Fionna bounced around like a ragdoll, her vice like grip in her sister's fur the only thing stopping her from falling to the ground far below. "Yeah, sure." She mumbled as she peered into the distance, a hand pressed to her brow.

The Candy Kingdom didn't look too far off now, if she squinted she could just make out the slopping (and very pink) candy pillars that made up the top of the castle through the blinding glare of the morning sun.

The journey hadn't been too far, having a magical cat for a sister frequently came in handy and, with Cake stretched four times her size and rummaging through the land like a giant, they were already more than halfway to their destination.

Fi and Cake counted themselves lucky. Although by coincidence, it was handy that the treehouse wasn't too far away from the Candy Kingdom. Their proximity made it so it was always reachable in the event of an emergency. It also meant loads of visits from Prince Gumball with an array of tasty treats whenever he stopped by for tea.

And speaking of Gumball and the Candy Kingdom, that was actually what they were headed now.

Some three weeks ago, Cake had entered a baking competition that was to be thrown by Prince Gumball himself. Cake had spent the last few weeks beside herself, this easily was going to be one of the _best_ days of her life, she loved to bake, but for Fionna it had been life as usual, baking wasn't really her thing, but she was supportive of her sister's goals.

Apparently tons of people had entered and Fionna had heard that some of the hopeful contestants had travelled _days_ to reach the Candy Kingdom. Fi had only been on Cake for half an hour and she was already sick of waiting to arrive.

She thanked Glob she wasn't the other contestants.

She also just couldn't wrap her head around why Prince Gumball would want to have everyone turn up so early. It was just after 7, and as far as she knew, the Prince himself wasn't a morning person and regarded his beauty sleep with the utmost importance.

With a start, Fionna realized Cake was looking up at her, expecting some feedback on her never ending commentary.

"Huh?" Fionna mumbled, still half asleep. They'd been up well and truly before dawn.

The excitement drained from Cake's face and Fionna felt a pang of guilt ripple through her stomach.

She was so excited about this competition, Cake lived for this stuff and she rarely got to do these kinds of things amongst the chaos of their lives.

The least she could do was put in a little effort. "Um, I mean, you're gonna kick their _ass_ , Cake!"

She fist pumped the air as she said it, her voice rising to a shout.

She grinned and glanced down at Cake from her perch on her back, but Cake did _not_ look impressed.

"Sweetie," Cake began and Fionna suppressed a groan. She knew that tone anywhere, she was in for a scolding. "What have I told you about swearing?"

Potential future baking star of Aaa or not, Cake was still her big sister, and it seemed that big sisters had this uncanny ability to slide a lesson into any aspect of life.

Fi pressed an elbow between Cake's ears, resting a cheek against her hand. "That swearing is for chumps?" Sometimes it was easiest to just roll over before the battle had begun.

Cake nodded. "Ah huh, don't say I ain't teaching you a valuable lesson now." Cake's body swayed as she talked. Cake was about to say something she thought was clever, this Fionna knew. "Trust me, when you go looking for a boyfriend and want to chat up a pretty faced man, you're gonna wanna be doin' it with a clean mouth, little sis."

"Well maybe I don't care what boys like."

Fionna knew Cake didn't mean it in that way but something about it still irked her.

Sometimes it was like that speech after the whole _Gumball-wants-to-date-me-oh-no-it-was-Ice-Queen-all-along_ fiasco had never happened. It had been a long time ago though.

She felt Cake nod beneath her, her eyes fixed to the road ahead. "Or girls," she said softly. "I don't mean to assume or anything."

Fionna blushed. She didn't like girls in that way but something about the way Cake made everything about romance made her uneasy.

It was like she was ready at any given moment to summon cupid.

"Or maybe I just don't wanna date right now?" Fi suggested.

The thing about Cake was that she loved to play match maker. To Cake, anyone that was single was crushingly lonely and desperately miserable and she had this strong urge to ensure that Fionna would one day experience the same joy her and her boyfriend, Lord Monochromicorn, shared.

While her intentions were good, Fionna had much bigger priorities. "Come on, Cake!" She hustled, playfully slapping her sister's neck. "Fighting zombies, taking down a dragon, delivering nachos to water nymphs, that's the life for me!"

Yeah, Fionna was up for anything, that's the way it had always been.

Anything but having a _boyfriend_ , or talking about them.

Cake didn't seem to mind this, she encouraged Fionna's adventuring.

"Of course, sweetie." Her voice had taken on a gentler tone, a tone of understanding. In a way Cake was like her Mom _and_ her older sister. "And you do you. But either way, as long as you're under my care I don't wanna be hearing you say _ASS!"_

Fionna jumped at the sudden change in Cake's voice.

Beneath her, Cake's fur had become bristly and seemed to be standing on end.

Cake hardly ever yelled (or at least hardly ever yelled at _her_ ) and it was still way too early for anyone to be causing a scene.

"Jeez, Cake! No more swearing, got it!"

But causing a scene or not, something was up.

And Fi never turned down the chance to smite some potential enemies silly.

She leapt down from Cake's back.

Whilst Cake had shrunk during her outburst, the fall had been a lot further than she'd expected, and she let out a soft ' _oof_!' as her feet hit the ground.

Rubbing the throbbing soles of her feet and her aching knees, Fionna reached for her sword, the one Prince Gumball and Marshall Lee had made for her together as a gift to thank her for her unfaltering and continuous service to the land of Aaa.

At dawn this morning, Cake had told her again and again that she didn't need to bring it, ' _It's a baking competition, Fi! What could possibly go wrong?'_

Well clearly _this_ , whatever this was.

Fi was always prepared and it was unusual to catch her without a sword fixed to her back or hip ready for battle at a moment's notice.

She liked to change up the weapons she used. She'd been particularly fond of her flapjack sword and the magenta crystal sword that Gumball (or Ice Queen _really_ ) had given her long ago.

Today's sword was different though, special, and Fionna hadn't had the time to really use it yet between Lumpy Space Prince stealing it and in trying to find time in the constant disarray that was her life.

Maybe today was finally looking up.

To her right the bushes rustled.

 _Oh boy_ , someone was about to get their hiney kicked!

"Alright, butt face!" Yelled Fionna in her very well practiced and most intimidating adventurer voice. She bent her knees, taking a defensive stance, arms raised and at the ready. "Show us your mug!"

"It's cool!" Came a voice that Fionna knew anywhere followed by a pair of black clad arms held up in the air. "We're cool!"

A teenage boy floated into view from the side of the road, or at least he _looked_ like a teenager, Fionna knew all too well that he was much older than he appeared.

He wore a ridiculously huge sunhat, a long sleeved black raglan and faded jeans that reached his ankles, his feet were donned in boots.

The short black hair that managed to peek out from under his hat was messy, as if he'd just been in a brawl, leaves and grass sticking out oddly everywhere.

Fionna wondered if he'd been hiding in the bushes when Cake had spotted him, and if so _what had he been up to?_

He looked up at Fionna standing over him, his dark eyes twinkling in the morning sunlight he so desperately tried to avoid. "Sup, Fi." He raised a hand in greeting.

Fi blinked, her arms falling to her sides but her hands still clutched tight around the handle of the sword.

More out of habit she guessed.

Marshall may be an immortal insanely powerful denizen of the Nightosphere, but the biggest kick he got out of her was through teasing her.

"Marshall?" He grinned at the sound of her voice, showing off a mouthful of sharp teeth and two identical fangs. She hoped he wasn't in a teasing kind of mood, he could be a handful at times, and that was putting it nicely. "What are you doing here?"

He clicked his forked snake-like tongue and leant to one side as if a wall or a bench had manifested next to him in the empty air.

Fionna sighed, he had that look on his face.

 _She was in for the long haul._

"Just got back from making out with a tree spirit," he purred and Fionna resisted the urge to shudder.

Marshall thought he was _hot shit,_ Marshall was his own biggest fan.

He flicked the brim of his hat and his grin widened. "You know, the usual."

Fi rolled her eyes and apparently this was to his amusement cause he laughed that impish laugh that she had become so accustomed to.

The thing about Marshall, Fionna had come to learn, was that nine times out of ten, you couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

Fionna wouldn't say Marshall was a good liar, (although he wasn't half bad at that too, _stupid cream puffs_ ) but rather had a knack for making up these wild _bullshit_ stories just for the fun of it.

So whichever it was today, Fi didn't care. Marshall was an okay guy but he liked to make a game out of these things and she just wasn't up for it today.

Marshall Lee was many things, and a _smart ass_ was definitely one of them.

And speaking of _ass_ had Cake just called Marshall an _ass_ just now?

 _Harsh_ , even by Cake's standards.

Fi started to look over at Cake and almost bumped noses with her in the process.

Cake was nearly on top of her, almost back to her usual size but her legs still stretched tall so she was the same height as Fionna.

Her eyes were fixed on Marshall and Marshall returned the glare lazily.

"You tellin' me you made out with a tree, boy?" Cake hissed.

Marshall and Cake had a bit of a history, it was long and complicated.

It was just easier to say that Fionna enjoyed Marshall's company far more than Cake did, even if he could be an _ass_ sometimes, as Cake had put it.

Marshall drifted forward, rubbing his gloved hands together. " _Tree spirit,_ " he corrected. "Her name's Trixi, she's on the soccer team, rad babe," he came to a stop in front of Fionna, his gloved hand finding her shoulder and tapping it lightly. "But I think she likes girls," he said quietly with faux resignation. He lifted his chin, his eyes dancing with mischief. "You know, like Fionna."

All the heat raced to Fionna's cheeks and she knew she'd lost the game before it had even begun.

The way these things worked was that if you showed even the slightest hint that Marshall had got to you, it was already over.

"You heard that?" Fionna spluttered, her eyes darting all over his amused expression.

He hummed, ducking his head and almost hitting Fionna in the brow with his hat. "Hey, what can I say?" He gave a shrug. "Vampire hearing," he gave a thumbs up, clicking his tongue. "Legendary." He paused. "Sometimes too legendary. My Mom is a very lonely woman, can hear her from all the way down the hall."

"MARSHALL." Fionna and Cake yelled in unison. Cake looked about ready to tear Marshall a new one.

He burst into laughter, clutching his sides.

Fionna frowned, like she said, nine times out of ten you just didn't know.

"Wow, and you guys reckon I have a dirty mind! I mean she eats loads of ice cream when she remembers she's single." Marshall made out like he was eating ice cream. "It's like she's making out with the spoon," he made kissing noises, adding tongue when Cake shot him a disgusted look. "Seriously, it's a nightmare!"

Fionna shook her head, placing a hand on Cake's shoulder. "T.m.i, dude."

"Ha," Marshall scoffed playfully. "Like you don't hear Cake goin' at it with lord horse noodle whenever he comes around. Or Gumball when he's left alone with a whisk for two seconds." He added quickly when he saw Cake's deathly expression. He grasped an invisible whisk. ' _Oh, Gertrude!"_ he cried out in a terribly high pitched, awful Prince Gumball imitation. He kissed the air nosily. " _It's lonely at the top!'"_

Fionna giggled, Cake shot her a horrified look. "He calls his whisk _Gertrude?"_ She gave a chuckle and shrugged at Cake.

What did she want her to do?

He could be a riot at times.

Marshall drifted above the ground, his hands clasped behind his head. "I may have heard it through the grape vine."

He winked at Fionna quickly from under his hat, so quickly that if she had blinked she might have missed it.

Probably so Cake wouldn't see.

He yawned and let his arms fall to his side, rolling over in the air until he was floating on his stomach.

His eyes flickered between Cake and Fionna, then to the dirt path. "Seems we're all headin' in the same direction."

"The road only goes one way, genius." Cake spat.

He continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "You guys won't mind if I tag along with you, right?"

 _"Yes!"_ Cried Cake, nodding her head frantically.

 _No way zombie skin was interrupting their sister sesh._

"Nah, man." Said Fionna, waving a hand.

 _Marshall was alright, he made for good company._

Fionna and Cake whipped around to face each other, Fionna glimpsing Cake's venomous look and Cake catching Fionna's questioning expression.

They'd both answered at the same time.

Marshall seemed unaffected by this and assumed the answer that suited him better, which was of course Fionna's.

"Wicked," he made a rocker's sign with his fingers, gliding to Fionna's side. "And everything else aside, long time no see, Fi." He bumped a hip against her's softly, which she was grateful for because his vampire strength was _insane_.

Ignoring Cake's one last scoff as she quickened her pace and walked up ahead, Fionna returned the gesture. "If by that you mean a week then sure, long time no see, dude."

However Cake felt about Marshall he was her friend.

He really wasn't that bad a guy but like she'd said, a long and complicated history.

Marshall seemed to like this and closened the distance between them.

Marshall and Fionna had a unique relationship.

At one point it seemed pretty clear that Marshall had a crush on her and hoped she liked him too, now it was hard to tell exactly where they stood and who felt what.

But Marshall made for a good friend, Fionna liked him hanging around at the treehouse as much as Cake detested it.

She also didn't mind the occasional going around to the lake house that he'd made his home to hang or listen to a new song he'd wrote.

Marshall often flirted with her but he seemed to know where she drew the line. They never seemed to get beyond him teasing her or him occasionally touching her teasingly, he knew the boundaries.

And besides, Fionna didn't really mind, if occasion flirting came with the friendship she could deal with it, Marshall was one of the realest people she'd ever met, and Marshall had said the same about her, after she'd brutally clobbered him in the cheek of course.

"So," Came Marshall's voice, stirring Fionna from her thoughts. "Tell me what's been goin' on in the world of Fionna the Human."

Fionna gave a shrug. "Oh you know, clobbering baddies, saving some marshlands, kicking some ogres in the teeth, fighting evil by moonlight." She ran a finger across the handle of the wish star sword, still gripped tight in her hand and she heard Marshall chuckle behind her. "What's up in Marshall Lee the Vampire King's world?"

He poked Fionna in the ribs. "First of all, _nice!_ I get that reference." She flinched at the ticklish sensation and tried to poke him back, one good poke deserved another. "And you didn't believe me about Trixie?" He asked, darting out of her reach. He'd learnt his lesson in the graveyard a while back.

Fionna could hit.

 _Hard._

She shook her head. "Not a chance." Like an illustrious tree spirit would swap spit with Marshall. Sure, he was handsome and had a rugged kind of charm about him, but she got the feeling that only a very certain type of person could date Marshall and not end up screaming at him five seconds into their first date.

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Keep lyin' to yourself, Fi." She rolled her eyes. "Also, just now, were you gonna split me in two with your sword?"

Fionna glanced over at Marshall, sure her eyes shimmering.

She loved talking about her various weapons but she especially loved giving speeches about her swords.

Marshall, of course, seemed to know this and reached over and tugged on one of her rabbit ears.

He turned onto his left side, pulling on Fi's hat until a crop of blonde hair spilt out of her hat's confines. "Where you totally gonna slay the terrible and tyrannical vampire king?" he teased.

Fionna untangled his fingers from her hat, stuffing her hair back inside it hastily. Even though it was short, her hair just got in the way. She liked it tucked away in the hat, thank you very much.

Her eyes found Marshall's entertained ones. "Well," she drawled in a slow and calculated voice. She brandished her sword. "If you really want me to that bad…"

Marshall laughed, a cold hand squeezing her shoulder. "Oooo, _scary!"_ His other hand waved about in the air. "I'm shivering in my boots!" Now both his hands flew to his upper arms, rubbing the long sleeves of his shirt theatrically.

He froze, shot Fionna another smile and held out a hand. "Can I see it? I didn't get a good look at it between Cake calling me an ass and you trying to kill me."

She hesitated but offered up the sword, fully unsheathing it from the belt around her waist and handing it to Marshall's waiting hands. "Be my guest." She observed Marshall with watchful eyes. _She'd be on him in two seconds if he dropped it._ "And shouldn't a father be able to recognize his own child anywhere?"

Marshall blinked, confused, but it speedily melted away to pure excitement the moment he laid eyes on the sword in his hands.

He ran a hand down the length of the blade and Fionna almost leapt out of her skin.

The sword was a _lot_ sharper than it looked.

" _Sweet!"_ He shrilled and Fionna couldn't believe how excited he was. "You brought the one Bubba and I gave you!"

For a moment Fionna lost her words, mainly for two reasons.

 _One_ , she couldn't recall a time she'd even seen Marshall this estatic.

She'd handed him the sword and suddenly it was Christmas morning for him.

But she guessed he was just super thrilled that she liked something he'd helped make for her. Fi knew a lot of hard work had gone into making this gift.

And two, had _Marshall_ just called _Gumball_ ' _Bubba_ '?

Usually it was ' _Gum wad_ ' or ' _His Highness'_ or ' _Your Majesty_ ', always in a condescending way.

She'd never heard him call him by his first name.

She was tired, maybe she was reading into it too much.

Marshall's hand darted down the blade again, this time dangerously close to the razor sharp part and Fionna leapt to his side.

" _Fingerprints!"_ She hissed, her hand flying to his and stopping it in it's tracks. Seriously, excited or not he was going to cut himself. "And why wouldn't I have brought it?" She drank in the sight of the sword with it's pink blade and twin ribbons. "It's sick!"

And she _meant_ it.

This brought a smile to Marshall's face and Fionna couldn't help but smile back.

This sword had been made by her two best friends, she couldn't help but get excited whenever she talked about it and she talked about it often.

It was a truly _epic_ sword, her _favorite_.

He wagged his fingers under Fionna's palm. "Goatskin gloves," he traced the top of Fionna's palm with his other hand, the leather harsh against her skin. "Completely impenetrable. But I'm glad you like it! I helped draw up the plans." His pale face light up. "Man, I bet you've been kicking some serious _ass_ with this one!"

" _Language_ , paste face!" Cake hissed from up ahead, right on cue.

She turned her head towards the boy she mistrusted so much, teeth bared.

Her eyes fell on Marshall and Fionna's joined hands, a dangerous spark in her eye and Fionna felt her stomach churn.

Fi's hand flew away from Marshall's the same time his did, her's because sometimes it was easier to not rock the boat and his so he could put all his effort into theatrically gasping.

He swooned. "Oh, _shit_ , sorry! Did I swear just now?" He rose in the air, landing directly behind Fionna and pressed his hands to where her ears would be under her hat. "Don't listen, child!"

Cake stopped in her tracks and started to march towards Marshall, or rather Fionna.

Fi groaned, reaching behind her and grabbing Marshall's hat. "Come on, dude." She tried to reason but she really wasn't feeling it. There was no reasoning with Marshall or Cake, for that matter, once things got out of control. "Stop antagonizing Cake."

Cake nodded at her. "Thank you, sweetie." But Fi's (half-hearted) words did little to stop the situation from snowballing.

Cake burnt holes into Marshall's hands with her glare, still pressed tight against Fionna's ears. "And I said _hands off,_ skinny!"

She watched as Cake's arms bulked with lean muscle, her claws shape shifting into long, silver needles.

Fi knew that to anyone else Cake would have been truly intimidating, but to Marshall she was just another challenge, another excuse to have some fun.

She felt his hands ghost all the way down to her shoulders, his fingers trailing down her neck.

She swatted at his touch but Marshall held his own.

Fi sighed an aggravated sigh.

' _Please don't say something to make her mad_.' She thought to herself desperately.

But this was Marshall Lee they were dealing with here.

He laughed and she groaned. "Come on, Cake! Fionna's a big girl, she's like," Marshall paused, his words dying on his lips. He removed his hands from the side of her face, peering down at her thoughtfully. "Actually, how old are you, Fi?"

"Too young for you!" Cake spat. Yet again, Fionna had no idea why Cake made everything about dating.

"I'm almost 17." Fi answered.

His eyes widened, he actually looked, surprised? "You're only 16?"

She frowned.

 _Well, how old did he think she was?_

"My birthday's in two months!" For some reason everyone seemed to think she looked a lot younger than what she was.

 _Damn her baby cheeks!_

Marshall's hands flew to his face and the sickening thing was that this time he wasn't acting.

He leant in close, his eyes lighting up. "You're only a _baby?"_ He pinched one of her cheeks with one hand and messed up her fringe with the other. _"Awwww,_ Fi! Sweet 16? What a _cutie!"_

Fionna shivered.

To put it frankly the way he had said ' _cutie_ ' had been absolutely disgusting.

 _She needed to put him in his place._

"You're not that much older than me!" She retorted.

He was _seriously_ humiliating her.

Marshall lapsed into silence, processing her words and then pointed to himself, a look of disbelief etched across his grey face. "Um, _hello?"_

Fi shook her head. "I mean your _physical_ age, vampire ages don't count!"

"Yeah, I guess you're only two years younger than me." He said, retaking his previous place at Fionna's side. But Fionna guessed this was still too close by Cake's standards as she watched her sister's fur start to prickle. "But she is old enough to wield a sword," He added, directing his gaze back to Cake. "I'm sure Fi's old enough to hear some dirty words every now and again."

Without taking his eyes off Cake, Marshall flicked Fionna on the forearm.

 _He needed to stop,_ or he'd end up even more undead before they reached the Kingdom.

"But yeah, while we're back on that subject it's a _kick ass_ sword! I'm sure you've at least made a dragon _shit_ his pants."

"How is that any better?" Cake growled, showing Marshall all her teeth.

He poked his tongue at her, his upper lip lifting to also reveal a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Cake hissed.

It wasn't cool that he was teasing Cake so much, but the idea of her taking down a full-grown dragon did seem pretty cool.

She couldn't help it, a small smile made it's way across her face, and Marshall shot Cake a knowing look.

Cake sighed a huge, prolonged sigh and turned on her heel. "I'm watching you, ghost boy." She warned icily, motioning to her narrow eyes with her fingers. "Give me a reason."

"Well, I've got a few." Marshall drawled.

Cake paused, and Fionna knew she was toying with the idea of seriously killing him then and there. Then she rolled her eyes and turned her eyes back to the road.

Cake always took the brunt of Marshall's antics.

He could just suck it up for _once_ , Cake _always_ did.

As soon as Cake had turned around, Fionna punched Marshall swiftly in the stomach.

His hands flew to his torso with a groan. " _Ow!_ " he cried, rubbing the affected skin beneath his t-shirt with a hiss. "What the _hell_ was that for?"

She quickened her pace, her nose in the air. "Be nice to my sister." She cast Marshall a sideways glance.

"Or what?" He moaned, slowly curling up into a fetal position.

She quickened her stride again, Marshall trying to tail her but too preoccupied with what would become a wicked bruise tomorrow blossoming on his skin.

"Fine!" His voice came from behind her. "I'll be nice to your cat!"

She slowed down, Marshall floating to her side. "My _sister_." She corrected.

He rolled his eyes, his hands still hovering above his belly. "Yeah, whatever."

Up ahead Cake made a noise of approval, her tail swishing side to side, but slower this time.

Marshall made a noise of disapproval but kept his mouth shut. Thankfully, he was also the type quick to move on. "For real though," He said between groans. "Has she served thee well?"

She pinched the nape of his neck as her way of an apology. "I took out a skeleton army about three days ago," this seemed to peak Marshall's attention and he drew back up to his usual height. "They were protesting outside the tree house. One of them, their leader I think, was talking about you like he was your buddy or something." Fionna pointed to a bush of wisterias on the side of the road. "Purple, I think he had a purple shirt."

"I was always more of a _Camp Half Blood_ kind of guy."

" _Huh?"_

Marshall waved a hand. "Forget it. But yeah, that's definately George."

Well at least he seemed to know what she was on about. "What are they protesting exactly?"

After chasing them away, Fionna had initially wondered if they'd turned up to do Marshall's bidding, it was unusual to see skeleton armies so far out in the Aaa countryside.

But if Marshall hadn't sent them, then she supposed they'd just gotten very lost.

He shrugged. "Hard to know, the Nightosphere is just that, the Nightosphere. It's always chaos, it could be anything." He lapsed into silence and Fionna glimpsed his face out the corner of her eye. He seemed to be thinking. "Had some guys protesting me last week," He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but paused, thought some more, and instead decided to strike a pose. "The excellent and _very_ sexy Marshall Lee? Heir to the Nightosphere throne despite only being a half-blooded demon? _Oh the humanity!"_

Fi considered quizzing him some more but decided not to push it.

If Marshall didn't want to talk she wouldn't make him talk.

Besides, in Marshall's world what he deemed a problem could range from mass assassination of Nightosphere politicians to him waking up in his bath tub.

He claimed to be ' _excellent_ ' but he certainly wasn't excellent at keeping secrets.

Whatever was on his mind would come about soon enough.

Fi shook her head. "I wouldn't say _'excellent'_ but sure."

He eyed her, a sly smile stretching across his face. "But you do think I'm _sexy_ , right?"

Cake grunted and Fionna knew it was time to steer this conversation to a different path.

Marshall had this uncanny ability to turn any response Fionna could possibly conjure up in her head sexual, now was the time to change subjects.

"Why would they care about that, you being half-demon half-vampire?" She questioned coolly.

And the truth was she was genuinely interested.

Why should the sum of Marshall's parts effect what has been rightfully his since birth?

He seemed to expect this response and ducked his head. "It's just that, you know I was human a long time ago." Fionna nodded hesitantly.

Marshall had touched upon his childhood before but she knew he was leaving out large chunks of it for her sake, or maybe even for his own.

Marshall struck Fionna as lonely, as he always did on the rare occasion he did bring the subject up.

He was a kid a long time ago, it had to be tough being stuck in a teenage body for eternity.

"They think a full-blooded demon would be better suited as King or a full-blooded vampire. Half-blood?" He waved a hand. "Not so much."

Fionna nodded but she knew she'd never really be able to understand.

Discrimination happened scarcely across the parts of Aaa that she knew, it was only really reserved for criminals and the deadly creatures that occupied areas like the Fire Kingdom and ghost towns.

The closest she could come to understanding his predicament was her being the only human left alive after the Mushroom War, as far as she knew Marshall was the only half-vampire half-demon in existence.

So really they weren't all that different.

"Is everyone in the Nightosphere that racist?" Fionna heard herself ask. "Um, _species-ist?"_

"Not everyone, a small few love to orchestrate some jerkery, they don't need much of a reason so they love to tear into me."

Fionna almost grimaced at that.

Marshall could be a jerk at times but it was probably only because everyone else was a jerk to him for something he couldn't even help.

He had to have a thicker skin, to survive.

Fionna brushed the thought from her mind.

"So how you gonna put a stop to it? To the _jerkery?"_

"Don't need to." He said in a low voice, picking up one of many stones that littered the path at his feet. "The Nightosphere doesn't work that way. It's not exactly a democracy." Fi wondered for a moment how the Nightosphere worked exactly, but then again maybe she didn't want to know. "Their opinions mean little, it's set in stone. One day I'll be king."

"Aren't you already a king?" She wondered out loud. "You know, _Marshall Lee the Vampire King_?"

"Details." He threw the stone. It sailed over Cake's head and disappeared into some bushes that crowded the path. "A provisionary title. They'll all be calling me that one day, might as well get used to it now."

"How is the Nightosphere? Fi asked.

"Bananas everywhere, all of downtown smells like fire wolf spew and Mom won't get off my case, same old same old." A sudden glint light up Marshall's eyes and he turned to Fionna. "You've never been to the Nightosphere, right?"

She shook her head, her eyes on Cake.

She didn't need to look at Cake's face to know a sour look would be on it right now, and she certainly didn't need to look at Marshall's face to know he was wholly invested in her response.

She thought about her answer and after a few moments settled on a basic, "Not yet."

She knew whatever her answer might've been, Cake wouldn't have been happy.

 _And she wasn't._

"Not ever!" Cake snarled, her voice like venom. "Watch me, dead boy! I'll plant my foot so far up your butt if you so much as put ideas in Fionna's head!"

"You mean you'll put your foot up my _ass_." He cooed but quickly shut up when Fi shot him a look. "But maybe someday, hey? The Nightosphere's evolved into Aaa's biggest cow heap but it still has some of my favorite chill out spots anywhere. Also if George shows his ugly face again cut sick." He ran a finger across his throat and made gurgling sounds. "Guy needs to give it a break."

"I'll sock him one right in his skeleton face!" Fionna cheered, punching the air.

Marshall winked and mussed what little hair poked out of her hat affectionately. " _Atta girl!"_

"Hey!" Fionna chortled, batting his hands away. "Also you didn't answer my question earlier!"

"Hmmn?" He hummed. "Oh!" He grinned. "You wanna know more about Trixie?"

Fionna rolled her eyes. "Before that, dingus! I mean what were you doing in the bushes before Cake and I showed up?"

He paused, as if he was thinking of some smart answer but decided to come clean. "I was tryna score some fairy truffles," He whistled. "Thought they might give me an upper hand in the competition." He reached inside his hat, pulling out what appeared to be a handful of tiny pink mushrooms. "Fairy truffles are, like, super rare and there's no rules against bringing ingredients from ' _home_ ' for your food so yeah that's what Marshall Lee was up to."

"You _what?"_

"Yeah, right, fairy truffles are like this mix between candy floss and mushrooms and are super good, you're not the first who hasn't heard of them, don't worry." He prattled, turning the glittery fungus over in his hand. "They taste like vanilla."

Fionna shook her head. "No, not that! I mean what competition?"

Marshall raised an eyebrow. "Uh, the one you and Cake were talking about before Cake screamed at me." He tucked the mushroom back in his pocket.

"Wait," Fionna grasped his arm. "You're entering too?" Her eyes drifted to Cake. Her body had stiffened.

 _She was not happy._

But surprisingly neither Cake or Marshall engaged with each other, Cake deciding it wasn't worth the effort and probably planning out a million ways to shatter Marshall and Marshall far too invested in his conversation with Fionna.

" _Too?"_ Marshall echoed, his face a mask of surprise. " _You're_ entering? I didn't know you could bake."

She released her grip on Marshall. "Not me." She pointed a finger towards her sister. "Cake. And I didn't know _you_ could bake either."

"Oh. Yeah, cool." He didn't sound too impressed but he didn't further the issue. "And why wouldn't I be able to?" He almost sounded kind of offended.

A born and bred resident of the underworld sitting in front of an oven and licking the extra frosting from his beaters didn't really paint Marshall as the perfect candidate for the baking type in Fionna's mind.

Gumball, on the other hand, with his mild mannered, refined nature and soft voice was the poster child for such hobbies, as cliché as that sounded.

But all said and done, the guy was literally made of sugar.

Fionna turned back to Marshall. "It doesn't exactly seem up your alley." That was the nicest way she could put it.

Marshall's eyes flickered over her face. "I bake at the lake house and the Nightosphere all the time. I make a killer cheesecake."

Fi chuckled but he looked kind of serious. "You're kidding, right?" She studied his face. "I can't tell if you're kidding."

"Fionna, this is serious business. Gumball's offering up a mystery prize. The prince isn't exactly the giving type. It could be anything and whatever it is I want it." She couldn't help but think Marshall's eyes flickered over her new sword as he said it. "And besides I can't loose to a cat. No offense, Cake."

But full offense Cake had taken. "You better shut your cake hole, zombie!" She snarled.

Marshall whistled and made finger guns at her. "Nice one."

Cake crossed her arms. "No pun intended!"

"Mystery prize?" Fi intercepted. _Now things were getting interesting!_ "Cake, did you know about this?"

Cake nodded. "Prince G's got something big in store, everyone wants it, whatever it is. This is the Candy Kingdom's first ever bake off, sweetie, he's gonna wanna go off with a bang."

"But what is it?" Fionna asked, her mind whirling at the possibilities.

As royalty, Gumball could get his hands on basically anything.

 _It sounded like an adventure!_

And despite coming close to making Flame Prince a new Fire Kingdom in her kitchen the last time she'd tried to bake, the allure and excitement of a mystery prize beckoned to her and she knew she wanted to know what it was as much as Cake and Marshall.

For a moment Fionna almost considered entering.

 _Almost._

Whatever it was, if Cake or Marshall won it she was sure they'd share the secret with her.

But she doubted that Marshall could win a baking competition, as confident as he sounded. It was true she'd never seen him cook a thing in his life.

But still.

She turned back to Marshall who had fallen into silence as if he was plotting some ridiculous answer but coming up with nothing he resigned with a breathy sigh.

"That'd take the mystery out of the mystery, bunny brain." He gave a shrug. "But whatever, I'll tell you all about it when I win. Come on, you'll hear more about it in the welcoming speech."

With a start, Fionna realized they'd reached the Candy Kingdom and were just standing before the draw bridge left open to welcome hopefuls.

She looked over at Cake, her expression vibrant with child like excitement, seeming to forget all about the bad mood Marshall had put her in.

If anything, spending the next week in the Candy Kingdom was worth it to see Cake like this

Marshall's hand ghosted her shoulder as he set out onto the bridge. "Watch your step."

She knew he was referring to the scarlet red river that surrounded the kingdom, the candy juice that stemmed from Prince Gumball's sister Nellie when she sucked the vitamins from the great mother oak.

To the candy people, the juice was like water, it kept the whole kingdom running and without it the people's lives were severely hindered.

Fionna leapt across the bridge, crossing it in two jumps.

Life blood or not, it was mad sticky and Fionna knew she'd spend the next week covered in it if any of the stuff touched her, considering that all the Kingdom showers ran on it too.

She'd already made that mistake once and even as a huge candy lover, she shuddered at the memory.

Cake joined her, stretching across the moat, a wrinkled look of concern on her face.

Cake liked candy too, she just hated getting wet, it didn't matter what the perpetrator was, she avoided it at all costs.

Fionna smiled at her as she jogged to catch up with Marshall who was already approaching the main gates.

"Entry slips, guys." Marshall reminded, retrieving a slip of paper from his jeans pocket.

Cake pulled her's out from a pouch in her fur that she'd manifested this morning for that sole purpose.

Basically if you didn't bring your slip you couldn't enter, and Cake hadn't taken any chances.

As they approached the gates, a banana guard eyed Marshall with large eyes but he didn't seem to notice as he set himself down in front of her and waved the crumpled strip of paper.

"Yo, dude. Here's my permission slip." He placed it on the table the guard was sitting behind, littered with snack wrappers. "My Mom signed it and everything-"

"Marshall!" The banana guard yelled over him, leaping to her feet. "Oh, man, it's been ages!"

A candy citizen happy to see Marshall of the Nightosphere?

' _It's been ages?_ '

Man, Marshall was _full_ of surprises.

"Kade!" Marshall jeered, taking her hand. They yanked on each other's hands simultaneously, their heads colliding with a loud thunk!

Fionna's eyes widened.

 _Since_ _when had Marshall been so buddy with banana guards?_

' _Kade_ ' was grinning from ear to ear, and Fionna wondered if banana guards got bruises too.

She resisted the urge to rub her own forehead, that had hurt to watch, but looking at Kade she'd never felt better.

"Look at you!" She squeezed one of Marshall's shoulders in an iron tight grip that Fionna was sure would've burst a vessel on anybody else. "Back in the pink city! Surprised you're back so soon after the stunt you pulled last time! Just can't stay away, huh?"

Marshall smirked. "It seems so."

"Ha! Oh, you know Van's been meaning to talk to you, but you don't answer your phone!" She smacked him across the chest and Marshall ducked out the way laughing. "She'll wanna see ya, gimme a sec!"

Kade turned on her heel and Fionna took her chance. "What's she talking about?" She whispered hastily. She knew she shouldn't pry but her friend or not, this was Marshall Lee they were talking about.

"Reception in the Sphere is awful." Marshall said with a shrug. "Can't text for more than three seconds if anything."

"No, what happened last time?"

"Oh, yeah. Funny story actually-"

But whatever gripping account Marshall had been about to launch into was quickly cut off by Kade's screams. " _HEY VAN!"_ She boomed, her voice ringing out across the kingdom's entrance and echoing into oblivion.

For about ten seconds silence, and then, " _WHAT?"_ Came a voice, uncannily similar to Kade's.

Kade cupped her hands over her mouth. " _GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, WE HAVE COMPANY!_ "

More silence, this time Fionna counted.

 _One…two…three…_

And then, _"WHO?_ " Van's voice sounded scratchy, which Fionna was positive was from all the yelling.

 _"JUST GET OVER HERE!"_

Now it was silence for real, but if Fionna strained her ears she could just make out the sound of feet running towards them in the distance.

Marshall took advantage of the silence and cocked his head towards Kade, who was now making her way back towards them. "Ask her yourself."

"What?" And then Fionna realized he meant ask her about _'last time_ ', whatever the hell that was. _"No!"_

The same smirk Marshall had shown Kade returned to his face and he cleared his throat. "Kade!" He beckoned to her with a finger before Fionna could stop him. "Come over here a sec!"

Fionna grabbed his arm desperately.

 _Forget it!_

Whatever had happened the ' _last time'_ Marshall had decided to pay the Candy Kingdom a visit was definitely not worth knowing.

"Dude, no!" She hissed, but Marshall just snickered under his breath and untangled her fingers from his sleeve.

Fionna swatted at his fingers, her face burning.

 _Didn't Marshall know that she had a reputation to upkeep?_

And besides, she'd only been in Kade's presence for two minutes, though not exactly the brightest citizens the Candy Kingdom had to offer, Fionna didn't want Kade thinking she was into sticking her nose where it didn't belong.

Kade had appeared in front of them. She leant on the desk lazily, a popsicle stick dangling from her mouth. "So, man, wassup?"

Marshall nudged Fionna and she stumbled forward. "Kade, this is Fionna, and Fionna this is Kade. Fi wants to know what happened last time."

Kade took one look at her and burst into laughter.

Fionna suddenly felt vulnerable.

Kade's surged forward, her arm circling around her, and she stiffened. "Of course I know who you are! You're Fionna the human! Great adventurer of Aaa! I read the comics they make about you in the newspaper every Sunday!"

"They make comics about me?"

Kade's laugh deepened and she wiped a tear from her eye. "Dude, yes! I can't believe I'm meeting you in person, wow! But seriously, you gotta tell me, what are you doin' hanging out with a jerk like Marshall?"

"He's my friend?" She hadn't meant to sound so unsure but it seemed that both Kade and Marshall found it hilarious as they started howling with laughter.

Between gasping for breath Kade wheezed, "Also _weiß er, dass du jetzt eine Freundin hast?"_ At first, Fionna couldn't make sense of the words that had just left Kade's mouth, but then she realized that she didn't need to.

They weren't for her.

Marshall immediately stopped laughing and his eyes flickered to Fionna.

She shivered under his glare. His eyes looked _intense_.

" _Ja?_ " Kade prompted, her eyes sly. Fionna was surprised, she hadn't taken Kade for the slippery type, but whatever she'd said to Marshall had clearly crossed a line.

He finally looked away and Fionna released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. " _Nicht jetzt."_

Fionna's eyes darted towards Kade and she knew she should've left it there, she didn't need to know what kind of exchange was going on. But still Kade pressed on. "You know Van's gonna ask you the same thing, right?"

For some reason this seemed to bring Marshall back to earth.

He squared his shoulders and grinned. "Strawberry shake says she won't!" It seemed no matter the situation, Marshall couldn't pass up a chance for a good bet.

Kade shook Marshall's hand. "You're on, bro!"

A few seconds later, ' _Van_ ' jogged towards the gates, slippin through a door to the right side of the keep labelled ' _staff only.'_

 _She_ doubled over and clutching her sides. "Dude!" She huffed between labored breaths. Her voice was raspy she bent at the middle, clutching her sides. Fionna wondered just exactly how far away she'd been. She beamed up at Marshall. "I's been ages!" Her eyes settled on Fionna and she gasped. "Oh, _Deine Freundin ist so süß!"_

Marshall groaned and brought a hand down on his knee hard. "Dammit, Van! _Du hast mich nur aus einem Milchshake betrogen!"_

Kade laughed, slapping Van hard across the back who groaned. " _Erzählte dir!_ " She snapped her fingers and winked at Marshall, her voice taking on a silky, velveteen tone that Fi hadn't known she was capable of. " _Und du hast es doch nicht bestritten."_

Fi shoved herself between Marshall and Kade, a hand on each of their chests. "Okay! Enough with leaving Fionna out! Not all of us can speak Candynese!"

Van and Kade took one look at each other and burst into laughter, even Marshall seemed to find her outburst amusing and hid his face behind his arm. "Like Gumball would speak the sickest tongue in Aaa!" Kade squealed.

 _Wow._

Had Kade just openly dissed Gumball right here in the Candy Kingdom?

 _Surely not._

An hand found Fionna's arm and she gave a shake, thinking it might be Marshall or Kade again. But the grasp held firm, fingers pressing into her flesh.

"It's demon, sweetie." Came Cake's voice to her left and Fionna whipped around to face her.

Cake was unusually quiet, she'd almost forgotten she was here.

It seemed Kade hadn't noticed either because her eyes widened to the size of plates.

She practically wrestled Van to the ground in excitement. "Van!" She sounded so breathless Fionna wondered for a moment if she might actually pass out.

If Fionna had thought that Kade was going to conk it, Van's reaction to Cake after laying eyes on her was something else.

If she wasn't having an asthma attack, then Fionna didn't know what qualified as one.

Van flung herself at Cake's feet, Cake scrambling to get out the way before she got crushed by the banana.

"Watch it!" She hissed, eyes alert and narrowed to slits.

But Van persisted, grabbing Cake's legs. "Cake!" She gargled, sounding just about ready to hack her lungs up. "Wow, you're my hero, man! Can you sign my arm?" She thrust an arm in Cake's face, dripping with sweat. "Man, Mom's gonna be so proud!"

Off to the side away from the scene unfolding before her, Fionna was sure Kade was trying to use her best whispering voice, but she couldn't help overhear her as she said to Marshall with a twinge of hesitation, _"She can't speak demon right?"_

She heard Marshall's clothes rustle as he shook his head and Fionna hoped he hadn't almost taken out Kade with his monster hat like he'd almost done with her on the road.

" _No way."_

Kade breathed a sigh of relief. _"Good."_

Fionna didn't have time to think over what Marshall and Kade might've been discussing as Kade's fingers drummed on the side of her neck. "Gonna need that entry form, Adventuress. Prince G's orders, he won't let anyone enter without it."

"Oh, no!" Fi waved her hands. "I'm not entering!"

Kade groaned, to Van's delight apparently because she had started cheering.

"Dammit, Van! I owe, like, three of our cousins ten chocolate coins each!" The way she said ' _Van_ ', ' _cousins_ ' and ' _each_ ', it was like she was cursing.

But Van couldn't have been happier. " _Ha_!" She screamed, jumping up and down on the spot. "I knew it! Didn't I tell ya, man? I knew she was gonna handball!" She flashed Fionna a grin and a big thumbs up. "Good choice, dude! I'm gonna be thirty chocolate coins richer tonight, woo!"

Kade sighed, slipping Van a few glittery coins before heading about her work, taking Cake' slip from her outstretched hand and placing it on the desk beside Marshall's.

With a rubber stamp, Kade stamped them one by one, and handed them back to their respective owners.

Fionna peered over Marshall's shoulder, down at the stamp. It side profile of Gumball's face, his hair decorated with various sweets all in pink ink.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her and lowered his face down to the paper, drinking the shade from the ink in two short slurps. He pulled a face, as if his impromptu snack had tasted bad, poked out his tongue and made a hissing noise like a sad snake.

Fionna chuckled under her breath, drawing both Kade and Van's eyes who shot each other a look Fionna couldn't quite describe. It did make her turn away from Marshall though, feeling as if she was suddenly be watched, scrutinized.

"So I guess you're gonna be around his royal highness for the next week, huh?" Fionna looked up, it was Van that was talking.

"Yeah, like you guys are gonna be seeing each other everyday, right?" Kade threw in.

The question was innocent enough but in the short time Fionna had know Kade, she knew her words had a double meaning.

Her words seemed to have their desired effect, Marshall's eyes narrowed, clearly asking her to shut up.

"Yeah. So?" He asked in such a way that almost sounded like he was daring her to say something more.

Fi had no idea why he was so touchy about Gumall.

But this was a challenge Kade was more than happy to accept. " _Geht nicht gut, hm?_ " She coughed and then she caught both Fionna and Cake's questioning looks and seemed to remember that Marshall wasn't alone. "I mean, Van's gotta frisk ya before you go through. Prince G's sure someone's tryna sabotage his bake off, but whatever." Kade nodded at Van. "Go ahead, sis."

Van nodded, opening up the desk draw and snapping on a pair of plastic gloves.

She started to approach Cake and Cake immediately readied herself to run.

The last thing Cake wanted was a crazed fan hands on her.

"Don't worry, Van's a professional." Kade said from behind the desk. "And hey, it's only as sexual as you make it."

A look of utter horror seized Cake's face. "Not funny!"

Van knelt in front of Cake and shot Cake her most reassuring look, which really wasn't that reassuring at all. "Don't worry, Cake! I've done this a thousand times before, the quicker we get this over and done with the quicker you can go. Arms up, please!"

Cake sighed in defeat, lifting her arms.

It seemed Van was right because in less than two minutes Cake was scrambling to Fionna's side, shuddering all over.

Van turned to Marshall, he lifted his arms up.

"Go ahead, Van." He cooed in what he considered his most sexual voice but just made Fionna cringe. "Feel me up."

Van set to work, her hands patting over Marshall's jeans. "Anything to declare, Mar?"

"Concealed weapon in the front." Marshall chuckled.

Van lifted his hat, revealing his messy hair (thank glob they were in the shade) and delivered a swift noogie to his scalp. "Not fallin' for that one again."

He put his hat back on, turning his back on Van and she slapped his butt, hard.

He took his place by Fionna and Cake, and even under the shadow of his hat, Fionna knew he was grinning from ear to ear.

Now Van turned her attention to Fionna, rubbing her hands together. "Your turn, Fifi!"

 _Fifi?_

Fionna did not approve of this new nickname.

She approached Van cautiously, flinching when Van disappeared behind her. "Please don't slap me." She begged, hoping she didn't sound as desperate as she thought. Kade and Marshall laughed, even Cake seemed to be stifling a smile.

"Not unless you ask, bro." Van chided behind her. "Arms up!"

It was over in seconds and Fionna was glad. Van and Kade were cool enough but they ran with the likes of Marshall.

"And you guys are free to go!" Van announced cheerfully, the gloves leaving her hands with an ear splitting snap and falling to the ground. "Good luck in there today guys!"

Kade reached for a lever at the top of her desk, giving it a swift tug.

The gate behind her started to open, creaking as if it hadn't had a good oiling in a long time.

She fist bumped Marshall as he flew past. "Expect a visit from us sometime this week actually. We're doin' rounds around the kingdom, G's taking this security thing quite seriously. And nice to meet ya Fi," she fist bumped Fi as she walked past. "Cake." She gave her a nod.

"Make sure you get that phone fixed before the comp's up!" Van called from behind them. "Work's boring!"

" _Andway ouyay illstay eednay otay illspay ethay eansbay aboutway Ubbabay!_ " Kade screamed.

"Okay!" Marshall joked but Fionna got the feeling he wasn't in the mood for kidding around. "Later!"

Fionna and Cake could just make out Kade and Van waggling their fingers in the distance.

The moment they'd disappeared from sight, Fionna jogged over to Marshall, panting as she tried to keep up.

For some reason or another, he was flying particularly fast.

"What was that about back there?"

 _She had to know._

Marshall sighed and shook his head. "Kade and Van are full of crap." But knowing this didn't answer Fionna's question he continued, "They know we have a history together."

"We?"

But it was like Marshall hadn't heard her. "In all the time we've known each other it's been complicated. Rocky."

Fionna shook her head. What she really wanted to know was what Kade had said as they left. "But why-?"

"Let's not talk about it." Marshall cut over her smoothly but she could hear something else in his voice, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. "It's gonna be hard enough with him just being there."

Upon hearing that, Fi lapsed into a stunned silence.

Marshall was acting odd, and not just now but since they'd found him in the bushes.

No matter how Fionna looked at it, it all seemed to come back to Gumball.

Which begged the question, why was Marshall even entering a competition knowing he'd be stuck coming face to face with Gumball over the next few days?

Something was definitely up but she decided not to push it any further, she didn't need to cross that line, Kade and Van had already done enough of that today plenty.

"Sweet, babies!" Cut Cake's voice through her thoughts, singing her words. Her voice barely able to contain her excitement.

Fionna looked up.

They reached the door to the keep in no time at all.

That seemed to be happening a lot today.

Marshall squeezed her shoulder, almost as if it was his way of making up for his strange behaviour. "Ready to go in?"

Fionna nodded rapidly, forgetting all about whatever had transpired at the gates. "Let's do it!"

And together, their hands planted on the door, they pushed it open.

 **OoOoOoOoOo**

 **A/N: Demon/German translation (taken from _Google Translate_ as is _Fanfiction_ tradition):**

 **" Also weiß er, dass du jetzt eine Freundin hast?" – So, does he know you have a girlfriend now?**

 **"Nicht jetzt." – Not now.**

 **"Oh, Deine Freundin ist so süß!" – Oh, your girlfriend is so sweet!**

 **"Dammit, Van! Du hast mich nur aus einem Milchshake betrogen!" – Dammit, Van! You cheated me out of a milkshake!**

 **"Erzählte dir! Und du hast es doch nicht bestritten." – Told you! Also you didn't deny it.**

 **"Geht nicht gut, hm?" – Not going well, hey?**

 **{As for the Pig Latin, you're on your own ;) }**

 **The original chapter for this was huge (32 pages!) So I've decided to split it into two for you guys, consider this part one and the next chapter part two of setting the stage for this fic!**

 **If you liked what you saw or hated this fic with a fiery passion please let me know in a review! I love you guys' feedback and any comments are good comments (no matter what kind!)**

 **Once again thank you so much if you read and I'll hopefully see you guys in the next edition of _The Great Candy Bake Off!_ ~KennBoKenn.**


	2. Batter Up

**A/N: Heya guys! Back with part two of _The Great Adventure Bake Off!_ Consider this chapter a part two to chapter one, the final edited product was so big that I decided it'd be better if I split it into two**!

 **Next chapter's gonna see an actual start to the baking competition, so if you like what you see, please let me know and it'll encourage me to work faster!**

 **Before we dive in, once again I do not own _Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake_ , this awesome show belongs to the _AT_ team and the grand master Pen and I couldn't even hope to create a world so rich with detail as them!**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this second edition and I encourage you all to read and review! Reviews, no matter what kind, really help me improve my writing and I always love reading what you guys have to say, so that would be hugely appreciated!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **OoOoOoOoOo**

 **Chapter Two: Batter Up**

Even though Fionna had been to the Candy Kingdom a thousand times she still found it hard to believe that Gumball had built almost all this place for the most part. The Candy Kingdom was huge with some of the towers reaching an eighth story, stretching high up into the clouds, surrounded by a plethora of buildings, all constructed from different materials and each zanier than the last. The Kingdom was easily one hundred times bigger than the treehouse, possibly more, but it didn't even have a nick on the state of the Candy courtyard today.

Although not as big in contrast with the rest of the kingdom, the Candy court yard was still sizeable by Fi's standards. The honeycomb walls that made up the courtyard and cased in a field of spearmint grass could be easily reached if you put around roughly 20 manotaurs shoulder to shoulder, if you so happened to have some on hand.

But really, it was the size of the crowd in the courtyard that really knocked the wind out of Fionna.

"Wow!" She whispered, and she couldn't help but stare.

People of all shapes and sizes congregated in the relatively tiny space, an endless, loud, moving behemoth all scrambling towards one of the many booths that littered the outskirts of the court yard. Upon taking a closer look, Fionna realized that each of the booths were catering something different. Some were selling snacks and early morning pastries to stave of the hunger of hungry patrons, all rushing to get some specialized cream puffs, shaped into the prince's trademark royal garments. Others sold t-shirts and toys, pricey merchandise worth at least ten gold chocolate coins each, each item donning Gumball's face.

As they passed through the courtyard, eyes wide, mouths open, people turned to look, the candy people greeting Fionna and Cake enthusiastically but steering clear of Marshall, who either didn't seem to notice or simply didn't care.

As they neared the halfway point in the courtyard, the crowd started to thicken, and soon enough Fionna, Cake and Marshall were apart of the sprawling mass of arms and excited voices that was the crowd.

For the most part, Fi couldn't see what had so many people hooked in the one spot and when she looked over at Cake, she seemed just as clueless too, giving her a shrug. She turned her attention over to Marshall, who was hovering in the air, his keen eyes flickering over the crowd, a scarlet red under his hat.

He whispered something to himself and floated down to Fionna's side, his arm sliding around her shoulders just as Cake was elbowed in the belly by a praline slurping soda, high on sugar. "Here," came his voice in her ear, softly. He took her arm, pulling her to the left, away from the densest part of the crowd. "It's less clustered over here. And come on, Cake!" He yelled over his shoulder, raising his voice just loud enough for her to hear.

Cake lifted her eyes, narrow and yellow, but she was quick to comply, racing to Marshall and Fionna's side. She attached herself to Fionna's leg, careful not to rip her tights with her claws. Marshall may have been a great source of agitation to Cake, but crowds were even more so, and they were incredibly quick to put a damper on her mood.

Slowly, his hand careful and controlled on her arm, Marshall ushered Fionna through the crowd, candy people shooting them weird looks as they passed, half-floating, half-shoving.

As they made their way towards the free space, Fionna was able to make out some of their conversations, but only in disjointed fragments.

"- _thought they were still dating._ " A sour strap hissed, a rainbow hand covering his mouth.

The orange jube he was speaking to nodded frantically. " _Hard to say,_ " she started, and Fi struggled to make sense of the rest of her words as a candy cane beside them decided it was a good time to cheer. But she managed to catch the end of the sentence, "- _Pretty heartbroken about it, some say he's on the rebound."_

Now a gummy bear came into view, missing an eye for glob knows what reason, talking in hushed whispers to a lolly snake, his eyes trained on either her or Marshall, she couldn't tell. "- _Hasn't been the same since winter, should've known better than to trust a-"_ But the rest of his words were swallowed up by the din.

The snake's eyes darted between her and Marshall. "- _Only interested in girls_." He hissed, his words drawn out and near silent.

Fionna frowned. Word spread quickly around the Candy Kingdom and rumors ever quicker. She hoped a random passing nymph hadn't overheard her and Cake's earlier conversation like Marshall had. People really needed to start minding their own business.

Marshall looked down at her impishly, but his eyes seemed knowing. He definitely knew she was finding it hard to make heads and tails of their hushed conversations. "Candy citizens like a good gossip." He whispered, but his voice sounded flat, as if he was hiding something. He definitely knew something she didn't.

She didn't have time to ask, Marshall setting her down in the free space, Cake leaping from her leg.

She tried to meet his eyes, her hand snagging his sleeve in a feeble attempt to try and gain his attention, but Marshall was looking out into the distance, an amused look on his face. She probably guessed he was watching a scene unfold at a stall too far away for her to see, some dude was probably tryna steal a pastry or something.

But still, she couldn't help but feel a little curious about what had just unfolded before them, Fionna hated secrets.

She turned to Cake, considering asking her sister. Marshall wasn't the only one who had better ears than her. She dropped the idea quickly when she laid eyes on her sister, her round eyes huge and taking in the crowd, and Fi knew her mind hadn't stopped whirling since they'd opened the gates.

"The turn out is huge!" Cake whispered to herself frantically, her eyes unable to settle on just one part of the courtyard. There was too much to see.

"Yeah, the people of Aaa love to jump at a chance to make history." Marshall added, tearing his attention away from whatever had been so amusing to him. "Also candy peeps love a chance to be on the radio."

Just a little ways ahead of them, Marshall pointed at a pink marshmallow decked out in a cupcake themed get up. "Hi Mom!" He squeaked, waving both hands.

Fionna couldn't help but laugh, forgetting about the whispering candy dudes. "Pretty neat!"

"How is Prince Gumball gonna decide who gets to make the competition though?" Cake pondered, more to herself than to the two teens. "There's no way this many sugar cubes can make it through, we'd be baking for eternity!"

Marshall hummed. "While that very much suits me, there is a solution, dear cat." He gestured to a booth Fionna hadn't spotted on the way in, she could just make out Gumball's signature dome piece over the crowd and from the size of it, lining up was going to be crazy. "After you sign up you go see Gumwad and do an entry challenge for him."

This wasn't a surprise to Fionna considering Gumball's events usually ended up competitive and personal. Not every average root beer could enter and walk away with all limbs attached. She guessed the entry challenge was Gumball's way of letting the majority of his people down easy.

"Entry challenge?" Cake echoed, and Fi could tell she was already weighing her options.

Marshall nodded. "Yeah, you gotta boil an egg."

Whatever battle maneuvers Cake had been planning for the challenge went up in smoke as Marshall's words seemed to throw her. "Doesn't sound too hard." Her voice became thoughtful and Fionna knew a million thoughts were running through her head. And just as suddenly, her tone was acrid and she punched a hand into her open palm. "Also call me ' _dear_ ' again and I'll pummel you into the ground."

"That's what Gumball wants you to think." Marshall pressed on, not taking the bait this time. As u _n-Marshall_ as it was, it seemed he'd had enough bickering with Cake today. "The eggs are from the Fire Kingdom, taken from the royal phoenix nest themselves. These guys are bigger than your average hens eggs and hate coming into contact with water."

"But why eggs though?" Fionna piped up.

Marshall raised two fingers on each hand, forming quotation marks. "Gumball reckons it's a ' _simple_ ' enough challenge but challenging enough to weed out the hopefuls that don't have what it takes. Also Candy people leak syrup everywhere when they get upset," he explained. "You're less likely to spend the rest of the day covered in sugar if you soften the blow with free breakfast to send 'em off with."

So she'd been right, Gumball was totally softening the blow.

"But phoenix eggs aren't safe to eat if you cook them in hot water." Cake pointed out, scratching her chin. Despite it being her job, Cake was less than concerned with the emotional wellbeing of candy people today. She was here to win.

Marshall shook his head. "Perfectly fine if you put 'em in cold salt water, that's how they ' _boil_ ', it extinguishes the flame. Also something about salt is bad for flame peeps," he added as an after thought. "Never figured out why though."

Fionna and Cake shot each other a knowing look.

They'd had plenty of experience with that with the impacted salt crystal Ice Queen had put in Flame Prince's chest about a year ago, and both of them had had enough of that for a long time.

Cake was the one to push the memory from her mind first, and she lifted her nose high in the air. "I wouldn't know. I've never had a need to eat flame chicken eggs." Cake couldn't let Marshall be smarter than her for more than ten seconds at a time. She'd break out in a rash.

But that being said, that opened up a whole other can of gummy worms.

"You seem to know a lot about phoenix eggs, Marshall." Fi pointed out. She knew Cake was thinking it too, she was just the first to say it. Cake just didn't want him to take it as a compliment.

Marshall rolled his shoulders. "I've been to the Flame Kingdom once or twice." He said in a voice that mimicked a monotone. It was one of the few times Marshall hadn't bragged about himself. "Also I don't want to give away all my secrets, but a word of advice, try not to crack 'em open." _And giving away tips too?_ Glob, Marshall was feelin' generous today! "If you're anyone but Flame Prince you'll end up barbecued." He frowned as if deep in thought. "You know I actually do wonder how he feels about Gumball taking away his flame parrots. Won't be easy boilin' up old Crackers."

"Wait, you mean Flame Prince is here?" Fionna demanded with a start.

Without taking his eyes off Fionna, Marshall lifted a thumb over his shoulder indicating to his left. She didn't know why he hadn't mentioned it till now, but sure enough, a boy engulfed in red hot orange flames was browsing the prince Gumball merchandise at a leisurely pace, an ice cream citizen leaping out of his way as her head started to melt.

Cake made a face of pure delight and Fionna shook her head frantically. Ever since last summer Cake had been hoping something might become of her and Flame Prince's friendship, especially now that the prince could speak English and they could communicate properly.

And to Cake's fortune something had become of them.

Kinda.

They'd hugged a few times and gone out once or twice and Fionna had genuinely had a good time, they'd even kissed once, Fionna's charred lips marking the rite of her very first kiss.

But duties had taken over for both her and Fp and they'd drifted apart and now things were just awkward. She didn't know what they were and how he felt and she especially didn't know how she felt. What they'd had had been amazing and confusing and it had all happened so fast, but now it was just plain frustrating.

He avoided her like the plague and she couldn't figure out why.

So she'd put some distance between them, she'd cross that bridge again when he wanted to talk.

But as far as Cake knew everything was going dandy and that just made it more awkward, pure and simple.

"He's not the only one though." Marshall mused, breaking Fionna away from her thoughts and _thank glob._ It was terrible to say, but she hoped he wasn't entering the baking competition. She'd be hard pressed to make it to the end of the week cheering Cake from the sidelines with all that ignoring going on. "His majesty, Prince Gumwad, can withstand high temperatures before melting down to bubblegum soup. Not that I've seen that firsthand or anything." Marshall's left eye twitched. "That'd be freaky."

The image of Gumball soup graced Fionna's mind and she knew she had to get that image out of her mind. Turning to Marshall without really thinking about what she was saying, she said, "You seem to be quiet the expert on Gumball."

As soon as the words left Fionna's lips, she cringed.

' _Expert_ '? Marshall's ego was big enough as it was.

Also Marshall was notorious for turning seemingly innocent snippets of conversation into something horribly dirty, he was cunning with his words like that.

But Marshall didn't seem to notice. He stretched out an arm as he drifted along lazily. He cracked his knuckles soundlessly, his eyes dead ahead. "I've known Gumwad a long time, I know secrets about his highness and the Candy Kingdom you wouldn't believe."

She wasn't the only one that was tired, but he looked tired, if it wasn't for his summer get-up Fionna would have forgotten that he was a creature of the night.

She knew he wasn't kidding. Marshall had been around since before the Candy Kingdom had formed in the mind of a young Prince Gumball, and long before that too. Without a doubt she knew he had the potential to bring the kingdom's empire down in one fell swoop if he so wanted to.

"Like what?" Fionna asked, curiosity getting the better of her. _She was glad he didn't want to._

An impish smile graced Marshall's face. "That our beloved Prince does Pilates on Sundays followed by a plate of chocolate chip cookies." He laughed lazily. "To me that constitutes as cannibalism but hey, they're called secrets for a reason."

Cake suddenly came to a stop in front of Fionna, her nose smacking into Cake's back.

"Hey!" Fionna winced, rubbing her snout with a tentative finger, but Cake remained frozen, her eyes fixed ahead of her.

 _Was it possible that there were enemies again?_

 _Here?_

Fionna reached for her sword before she had time to think, her mind racing and ready for battle. Ready to fly into a brawl at any moment, Fionna stood up on her tiptoes and looked over Cake's shoulder.

But it wasn't monsters or mummies or witches that had her rooted in place.

It was something worse, _much_ worse.

 _A behemoth._

About ten meters away stood a line that stretched out the back entrance of the Candy Kingdom as far as the eye could see. Fionna squinted, her hand shading her brow. She couldn't even make out where the line was supposed to lead to.

And it seemed Cake was thinking exactly the same thing. "Whoa, Mama." She whistled, at a loss for anything else.

"We'll never get through by today!" Fionna moaned miserably. She'd already waited three hours for breakfast, she didn't want to add on another five.

"I can stealth us in." Marshall offered, and Fionna knew immediately what he was about to suggest. "I can go ghost and sneak us to the front of the line, Danny Phantom style!" He made a karate chop motion with his hand, smiling at Fionna. But somehow she got the feeling he was line cutting whether she and Cake agreed or not. He'd totally planned this, she knew it. "Saves us hours of standing around and we can get to the brunch table before the food comes out."

"What brunch?" Fionna demanded, her mouth already watering at the mention of food.

At that moment, in an incredibly cruel twist of fate, a delicious smell wafted through the air across the courtyard, a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and freshly brewed coffee, intermingled with a delicate fruity scent. Candy people everywhere stopped what they were doing, frozen mid-sentence, mid-chew, their eyes directing towards the source of the smell, just to the right of the gigantic line, licking their lips in anticipation.

Fionna and Cake turned to face Marshall, their mouths hanging open and Marshall pointed to his nose, shapeshifting into a bat's as he took in a huge sniff triumphantly. "Superior vampire smelling powers, yo!"

But somehow, absolutely incredibly, despite the fact she was tragically starving too, Cake stood firm. "Nah uh, boy! I ain't line cuttin'!"

Good old lawful Cake. Usually, Fi admired her sister's unbreakable will and ability to put her foot down, but now was not really the time or place for either.

Fionna sighed. "Come on Cake, waiting in line stinks!" Upstanding citizens and keepers of the law or not, there was no way Fi was spending the next few hours waiting in line. She didn't know where the smell was coming from but something smelt absolutely divine.

Marshall used this to his advantage. He knew how irritable Fionna could get when she was hungry and he could only assume Cake was the same.

He nudged the cat with his shoulder and she cast him a dirty look. "We could be at the front of the line in seconds" he reasoned, turning Cake towards the smell, his hands on her shoulders. Fionna knew what he was doing, Cake couldn't only hear better than her but smell better too, she could only imagine how the mystery brunch smelt to a cat. Marshall nudged her again, softer this time. "Brunch is only for the people who pass the entry challenge, but if you do, it's free."

It was like Cake's whole world came tumbling down. On the one hand, Cake was a stooge and could never pass up an offer on free food, but on the other, Cake rarely budged on these things and once she'd made up her mind that was it, especially when it was a vampire boy that was trying to ease her into giving into her temptations.

But it seemed Cake was thinking with her stomach today, because the idea of almost instant, free food had her rolling over pretty quick.

She shook herself from Marshall's grasp, rubbing her fur with her paws as if she was suddenly very dirty, blinking her eyes blearily as if she'd been under a trance. "You had me at free brunch," she sighed, trying to hide the tone of defeat in her voice. She pointed a paw at Marshall. "And I ain't doin' this for you, just so you know!"

But Marshall knew he was victorious, his arms crossed against his chest. Fionna couldn't help but think he looked hungry too. And he definitely needed it, Marshall was as thin as a twig. "Sweet," he nodded, uncrossing his arms and spreading them out before them, indulging in Cake and Fi's puzzled looks. His eyes glinted. "Come to Daddy."

Fionna cringed, hoping that Marshall had never referred to himself as ' _Daddy_ ' to anyone else ever for both his and their sake, and Cake actually gagged, her body shaking so violently Fi was sure she was about to hack up a fur ball.

Trying not to acknowledge him too much, Fionna crossed the short distance between her and Marshall, trying not to make a scene when he pulled her body close, feeling as if every part of her was on him. She smacked him lightly under the chin, trying not to draw too much of Cake's attention as she called her over. "Come on, Cake," she tried to reason, but really she wasn't particularly enjoying this herself. "It's two seconds."

But Cake was clearly at her limit. Sneaking in line was one thing, hugging a vampire boy was another. "Nuh uh," Cake tutted, waving a finger. She motioned to her body with a sweeping hand, her paw gliding down her hips luxuriously. "Only one man in all of Aaa gets to touch all of this, and spoiler alert, it ain't no graveyard, punk rock wannabee."

Fionna could feel a wicked smile stretching across Marshall's face from her place below his collarbone, her face wedged between his neck. "Please Cake, I may be kinky but I'm not into that kinda stuff."

Fionna groaned. She knew Marshall didn't think he was capable of being cringy but she was certain she'd just winced enough for the both of them. "Marshall," she moaned, wondering if it was possible for her to roll her eyes any further into the back of her head. "You're not kinky."

Usually this would've elicited some kind of response from Marshall, he lived for Fionna slipping on her words and saying anything remotely sexual so he could tease her into high hell.

But Cake beat her to the punch and if she was tall enough, Fionna was sure she would've shirtfronted him. "Into what?" She demanded, striding over to him, Fi still swaddled up in his arms.

Marshall paused, for dramatic effect, Fi supposed, but really it was just long enough for her to sigh.

Marshall's arms tightened around Fionna, bracing for what he knew would happen next.

His forked tongue snaked out over his lips, eyes twinkling. "Bestiality." He purred.

Both Cake's fists were gigantic in seconds, her knuckles shifted into spikes. "That's it!" She screamed, turning heads and several horrified expressions. Candy people knew that when Cake got pissed, shit was about to get real, and that was putting it nicely. "I'm goin' full Garnet on you, ankle biter!"

"Full Garnet?" Marshall laughed, his arms so tight around Fionna she thought she was gonna burst. He swiped a hand across his eyes, making a shing noise through his teeth. "Then consider me Jasper, except I ain't gonna lose!"

Cake's face morphed from anger to full blown fury, her fists growing bigger by the second. "You're kidding me?" She whispered, her eyes directed on Fionna before shifting to Marshall. "Are you kidding me?" She screeched, several candy people straight up bursting into tears. "What kinda criminal spoils a woman's favorite show? I ain't even seen that episode yet!"

Fionna elbowed Marshall in the ribs, just under his left arm. Marshall gasped, almost dropping her in the process, his eyes burning into her's. Well, it'd certainly gotten his attention. "Marshall, quit it, I'm serious!" She hissed, shooting him her most aggravated look. "And Cake," she looked back at her sister, who's fists were already decreasing in size. "It's two seconds of your life! I'm seriously starving, and Marshall's about to crush me!"

Marshall started, loosening his grip on Fionna, who took a huge breath, glad to have full use of her lung capacity again. "Oops! Sorry." He apologised, patting her on the head.

"Okay, we all friends now?"

Marshall and Cake shot each other a look of unanimous disgust.

"I wouldn't say friends-" Marshall started but Fi cut him off.

"Good enough. Now let's go so you and Cake can sneak me free brunch."

Marshall chuckled at her incentive, Cake taking the distraction to clamber up Fionna's leg, shrinking herself down and nestling herself between Fi's arms, cushioned by her chest.

She hissed as Marshall's arms enveloped around her, and Fionna hopped it was because Marshall was touching her and not because of his hands being in such close proximity to her boobs. "Does he have to touch me?" Cake demanded, and Fionna almost sighed in relief. "I don't even wanna know where those things have been!"

Fionna opened her mouth to speak but Marshall beat her to it. "Shhh!" He shushed, Cake's eyes flashing in irritation. "Banana guards have custard for brains but they have really good hearing." Looking around, there were no banana guards in sight, but maybe Marshall was seeing something they couldn't. "Glob knows why, but no talking once we're in the air."

" _'I_ _n the air?'_ Cake echoed with a groan. "Doesn't exactly bring back good memories."

"Then don't think about it." He offered unhelpfully, bending at the knees.

Immediately, Cake's claws shot out, digging into Fionna's arm. " _Ow!"_ Fi winced, rubbing at the affected skin with a tender hand.

 _"Sorry!"_ Cake whispered, retracting her claws.

 _"Awww,"_ Marshall cooed, his words like baby talk. "Is Cakey afraid of a little height?"

"Boy, call me ' _Cakey_ ' ever again and you'll wake up with one less eyebrow!" One of Marshall's hands flew to his eyebrow instinctively, almost sending Fionna to the ground as a result. "And it's not heights that're the problem, it's flyin' boys!"

Fionna stroked Cake's head soothingly. "Just get on with it, Marshall." She promoted and Marshall nodded.

"Ready?" Fi and Cake nodded, Cake more hesitantly. "Cool." Marshall said with a nod, striking a ridiculous pose, and Fionna could already see he was starting to turn invisible. "I'm goin' ghost!" He screamed, making all the candy people in their immediate vicinity flinch, but when they looked in the direction the shout had come from, there was nothing but empty air.

But to Fionna and Cake, it felt like everyone was staring, looking right through them. Even though they were completely invisible, she was finding it hard to get her head around.

Thankfully, the staring didn't last long, Marshall had already risen above their heads before Fionna even realized they were moving. He was a surprisingly smooth flier.

Fionna looked up at Marshall, unable to see his whole face from her position but she could still see the faintest traces of a smug smirk plastered across his mouth.

She hit him on the arm, her voice barely above a whisper. "What happened to stealth?"

Marshall laughed. "Relax, they don't suspect a thing!"

Fionna pointed at the people below, most of whom had gone back to doing what they were before but a fair few still stood gob smacked, looking around for the disturbance. "Well it sure doesn't look like it to me!"

But Marshall shook his head. "Candy peeps are resilient, in two seconds it'll be bizz as usual. And besides, if you really wanna get their attention, you gotta pull out the big guns." He snuck Fionna a mischievous look, his eyes glittering with possibilities. "You guys wanna see my ghostly wail?"

 _No way!_ Fionna thought to herself frantically, there was no way she was gonna let him put ideas in her head. "Just get us to the front of the line!"

Marshall nodded but he looked a little disappointed he wouldn't be wailing today. "You're the boss."

Thankfully for Cake, the flying didn't last long. They were probably in the air for about less than sixty seconds before Marshall set them down, Fi and Cake reappearing the moment they were away from Marshall's touch. Cake clambered her way out of Marshall and Fionna's conjoined grasps, gasping as if she'd been starved for air, she looked just about ready to kiss the ground.

Marshall reappeared not long after, making a peace sign with his fingers. "Thank y'all for flyin' Air Marshall and welcome to your destination, the front o' the line."

"Pfft! Lame!" Fionna laughed giving Marshall a small shove, but upon drinking in her surroundings she saw that he was right. He'd totally scored them front row seats to the entry challenge.

She wasn't sure why, but for some reason or another the candy people and other contestants around Mar, Fi and Cake didn't seem to notice that anything had changed, laughing and chatting amongst themselves happily.

"Sneak works like that sometimes," Marshall explained, as if he'd read Fionna's mind. "On some people, their minds can't comprehend what's changed and how it came about so their brains supplement them with the most viable option, that being we were here the whole time."

Cake and Fionna looked at Marshall dumbstruck, they couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.

Marshall threw back his head in a laugh, slapping Cake on the shoulder. "I'm kidding! Majority of Candy people are just mad stupid."

"Hey!" Yelled a stick of spearmint chewing gum, standing at Marshall's side. "I'll have ya know I can count to at least 10!"

" _Majority of',"_ Marshall quoted, patting the gum on the back. "Doesn't mean all of ya, minty, just most of ya."

The gum blinked slowly. "Oh! Carry on then!"

Suddenly Cake's paw was tapping her shoulder, directing her face towards a makeshift stage decorated with a podium, a stove, one pot, several ingredients and what appeared to be a wall of bread behind it. "There's your prince!" Cake said excitedly, fidgeting on the spot.

Fi blinked, her eyes taking in the figure of a pink boy, sitting up on the stage in a chair covered in purple velvet.

She didn't know why she hadn't spotted him before, perched over his podium, his cheek in his perfectly manicured hand, thick eyelashes fanning his bubblegum cheeks as he poured over what appeared to be a list in front of him, which she was sure was filled with impeccably written notes.

His head lolled forward suddenly, a snort escaping from deep within his throat, his eyes blinking blearily.

Fionna blinked, _had the prince just totally been sleeping just now?_

So her theory proved correct, Gumball had bitten off more than he could chew. The Gumball she knew would never get up before eight thirty unless it was a national emergency or _Orange is the New Black_ reruns were on.

He looked up, smoothing back his hair with a tired hand, shielding his eyes from the morning sun groggily, muttering something to himself in a snail like tone. His eyes swept over the crowd, his chocolate brown irises glittering in the sun, impossibly beautiful and impossibly warm, looking out over his subjects and the future potential bake off stars in the crowd.

Fi's eyes fell to the ground just as Gumball's eyes passed over her, Marshall and Cake. He hadn't seemed to notice their presence in his half asleep state, and Fionna could almost hear him yawning from where she stood.

But tired or not, still Fi cursed herself as her heart leap in her chest, her pulse quickening in her throat and all the red rushing to her face. She didn't know what it was, he always looked so prim and proper, always so well put together, and even though he looked beyond exhausted, Prince Gumball looked particularly beautiful today.

"Hey, Prince Gumball!" Yelled a nasally voice that Fi couldn't quite pinpoint but she knew no doubt belonged to some kind of cookie. "Rockin' that highlighter this morning, your highness!"

Gumball turned his head towards the voice, his brow, cheeks and nose glittering in the sun, and with a start, Fi realized he was coated in pink glitter, intermingled with silvery tones.

He nodded at the citizen, seeming to have located his location, which Fi still couldn't pin down. "Thank you, random red velvet cookie that I've only met once since your creation!" He accredited all in one breath. "It was given to me by a, uh, friend!"

Beside Fionna, Marshall gasped. "Uh, hell nah!" He scoffed, frowning deeply. "That better not be the one I gave him!"

Fionna blinked. "What?"

She turned to Marshall, examining his expression, but Marshall had assumed his best poker face. "Um, nothing?"

At the podium, Gumball sighed into a hand, looking out onto his rioting subjects who he was sure had no clue what the line was.

Somewhere in the middle, or probably nowhere near the middle cause the line was that huge, a graham cracker did a perfect handstand, the citizens surrounding them whooping with glee.

Candy people were way too easily hyped, he could pull out a bag of sherbet straws and they'd be wetting themselves with anticipation. He needed to get this under control, now.

Gumball forced himself up, his legs like lead beneath his body. How he wished he could climb back into bed now. "Single file, people!" He yelled over the crowd, not that it did much to put a stop to the pushing and shoving. With a resolute sigh, he raised a pink fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Ahem!" Silence fell over the crowd, eager eyes gazing up into the booth. Someone shouted at the back of the queue and half of the hopefuls burst into laughter. Another sigh made it's way past Gumball's lips. _300 down, oh so many to go._ It was going to be a long day. "My people of the Candy Kingdom-"

"AND AAA!" Shrilled a voice joined by several choruses of cheering.

Gumball fought the urge to roll his eyes. "And Aaa." Prince or not, he'd been up since 4:30, even royalty had it's limits. "Once again there is no names register! The turn out for the Candy Kingdom's first baking competition has been bigger than anyone could have expected." ' _Yeah, right'_ Gumball thought to himself. ' _Ya really shot yourself in the foot there, Bubs!'_ "But for now, I need all of you to make this as orderly as possible, so please form a line single file and approach the booth one by one!"

 _Like that was going to happen._

All the excited residents of the Candy Kingdom and ecstatic foreigners from far away lands crammed into a not-so-massive space?

 _A recipe for disaster_.

"Excuse me!" Gumball's head snapped up, almost losing his crown in the process, as he watched a cookie fight his way to the front of the line and an anthem of angry yelling started up again. "Prince Gumball!"

Gumball ran a hand down his face, his fingers brushing over the dark circles under his eyes. "Yes, random citizen?" He'd already reprimanded sixteen line cutters, just let them line cut.

A soft ' _oof_ ' was drawn from the cookie's mouth as he was elbowed in the side by another line cutter following his example. He rubbed his side looking miserable. "What time do you think we'll be done?" he asked in a watery voice and Gumball was convinced he was on the verge of tears.

He sighed, lifting a hand from the podium and lifting up his sleeve. "Let's see, the time now is," he glanced down the bridge of his nose and clicked his tongue in frustration. In his hurry to set up before dawn he'd forgotten his watch. "Oh good grief!" he cried in a raised voice. Several of the candy people in front jumped. "Does anyone have the time?"

A chocolate bar, one of the few who'd jumped, pulled back her sleeve with a jittery hand, revealing a gumball guardian themed wrist watch. "The musk points at the lollipop and the humbug!"

"Okay," Gumball muttered under his breath, trying to make heads and tails. He raised his voice. "So it's 8:30 now for those of you who aren't candy folk! Which means 12:30 at the earliest!"

The crowd groaned unanimously and Gumball had to fight the burning urge to turn tail and stride back into the castle and dive under the covers of his warm bed.

"Believe me people! I'm suffering too!" He was only a candy person too, what did they take him for? He'd been ready to give up hours ago. "And can whoever's next in line please approach the booth?"

In the sea of people a kid started hollering like his leg had been cut off.

"Oh, great mother gum!" Gumball cried, smacking his forehead with a shaky hand.

A low chuckle drifted into his ears from just in front of him. "The Prince, cursing?" Hummed the low voice. "Oh help me, mother gum! The Prince isn't as sweet as I thought!"

Gumball sighed a huge sigh and let his hand fall back onto the podium.

He didn't need to open his eyes to know who stood in front of him but he knew common courtesy stated that he must.

He blinked against the shimmering morning sunlight, knowing it would be worse to the teen that stood in front of him but not necessarily caring, mainly because it was still way too early, he needed coffee and this person had ruined his life.

He almost bumped his nose on his sunhat, his face and body silhouetted in shadow. "Oh, it's you." He droned, and it was all he could manage. It was Marshall's Mom who sucked the souls out of the living and not Marshall but some days his presence seemed to have that affect on him.

"Aww," Marshall cooed, removing the glove from his right hand and tucking it away in his pocket. He dipped his finger into a pot of sugar colored pink with food coloring that lay admist the clutter on the table, careful not to let his hand venture into the sun. "No hug? You know it's been four weeks, babe."

"Just do the challenge, Marshall."

Marshall leant down on the counter, raising his sugar coated finger to his mouth. He slipped it between his lips, his tongue licking his grey skin clean. He met Gumball's eyes squarely, who squirmed under his prolonged gaze. "Sure thing, sugar lips." He purred, making sure his gloved hand brushed Bubba's as he for the phoenix egg.

He took the egg in his hands, it was about the size of a tennis ball, a deep scarlet red in color and covered in what appeared to be scales, three tri-colored feathers growing out from the very top.

As he placed it in front of him and reach for the gas, Marshall paused, his eyes directed towards the right side of the table.

"What?" Gumball sighed, focusing on his notes.

"Are those _twizzlers_?" Marshall asked, his eyes on the tiny floral printed plate just out of his reach, decorated with ropes of red candy.

Gumball pushed the plate towards him with an outstretched finger. "Complimentary." He said flatly.

Marshall swiped one from the plate, tossing it up into his mouth. "Sweet."

He drank some of the red from it, the faintest trace of raspberry gracing his tongue before he set about setting up the challenge, snapping a glove back on his previously ungloved hand before reaching for the stove, already filled with water, and turning it on with an idle hand.

This stove was a little different to your usual stoves, instead of flames it spewed snow and ice, making the water inside subzero in seconds.

As he watched the water ' _boil_ ', Marshall rolled the _twizzler_ around in his mouth, sucking and slurping on the candy rather nosily, bubbles starting to break the water's surface.

Gumball's eye started to twitch. Marshall knew he hated white noise.

"Stop that." Bubba huffed when he couldn't take it anymore, gripping the edge of the table tight in his hands. There were few things that made him like this but Marshall and obnoxious noises definitely made the top of the list.

Marshall rolled the _twizzler_ around in his mouth leisurely, the candy hanging from his lips. "Stop what?" He asked innocently.

"That." Gumball hissed, raising his voice when Marshall started to chew on the candy, his fangs sinking into it's soft, pliable texture.

Marshall raised a hand, his fingers wrapping around the _twizzler_ , removing it from his mouth with a soft _pop_. With his gaze on Gumball, Marshall ran his tongue down the length of the lolly, his eyes never leaving his. "Wow," he muttered, finally biting down on it and cramming it into his mouth. He chewed on it slowly, his voice muffled as he spoke. "You sound kind of frustrated. You know what really helps me out when I'm-"

Gumball held up a hand. " _Don't_."

"I was gonna say Pilates," he said casually, but his eyes were glinting with something more. "You know, how you sweat it out in lycra tryna get a tighter ass on Sundays?" He placed the rest of the candy in his mouth, chewing it five times before swallowing it whole. Bending at the middle, he leant over the table, his hands resting just above Bubba's, who retracted them immediately. Marshall's eyes burned into Gumball's, unfaltering, unmoving. "Why?" He whispered. "Something else on your mind?"

Gumball rose out of his chair, Marshall pulling away from the table and drawing up to his full height. Bubba was by no means considered short, but even standing he only reached Marshall's chin, and it was hard to be intimidating when you were shorter than the one you were trying so hard to intimidate.

After a few prolonged moments of silence, Marshall gave up with a shrug, drawing back to his original stance, leaning against the table. "By the way," he droned casually, as if everything was usual. "Fi and Cake may have gotten the slip on the Pilates thing, so don't be weirded out if she asks you about cookies."

Gumball blinked, a look of surprise crossing his face. "Fionna's here?"

Marshall nodded, his attention back on the water. "Yeah, and you might wanna tone down your princely charm for once." He looked at Gumball, then back to the water. "She reckons she doesn't but she definitely still likes you, so try not to string her along."

At this, Bubba frowned. "I don't string people along." He said indignantly.

Marshall laughed mockingly. He held a hand to his hear. "What's that? ' _You have a duty to the Nightosphere that has been your sworn duty since birth that is so far beyond my comprehension I couldn't even begin to understand?_ _Oh, I completely understand,"_ his eyes narrowed." ' _Now let me make you choose between me and your Mom.'"_

"I didn't make you choose between anyone." Gumball rebutted, quick on the defense. "And you haven't talked to your Mom in months, sometimes you just got to let things go."

Marshall's eyes widened dangerously fast. " _Let things go?"_ He echoed mockingly. "She's my only living relative alive, you don't just let those things go. And you did!" He accused, his voice rising in agitation. "You knew the Nightosphere was a shit show, it still is and I'm trying to fix it." His eyes burned into his, angry and frustrated, but Bubba also couldn't help but think also a little sad. "I needed your help and you were an ass." His voice dropped to something quieter, his eyes never leaving Bubba's. "We never should've let it get that far."

Gumball swallowed the lump in his throat, trying not to let his face betray him. He sucked in a deep breath before he asked, "Why are you even here?"

This brought Marshall back to his usual self, or as close to as it could right now, and he gave a long sigh, accompanied by a heavy shrug. "Why does everyone keep asking that? Can't a guy just enter a baking competition in peace?"

"Because your first instinct is to be melodramatic." He motioned to the boiling water with his eyes. "Finish the challenge."

Marshall's eyes darkened before they flickered to the left end of the table, where a salt and pepper shaker stood. "Salt." He droned, holding out a hand. He looked back at Gumball , his eyes boring into his. "Even though I don't really need it. You're salty enough."

From the opposite end of the table, Gumball rolled the shaker to Marshall, but not before rolling his eyes and making a slight sound of irritation in the back of his throat.

From here, Marshall became less talkative, focusing on the challenge as he shook the shaker twice into the pot of water before putting it down, Gumball's hand shooting out to retrieve it, as efficient as always. Without further ado, Marshall picked up the egg and dropped it into the water. Fifteen seconds of silence passed between them as the egg started to roll around inside the pot until bubbles stopped rising to the surface of the water.

Marshall reached behind Gumball towards the bread wall, his hands reaching for a slice of toast, their faces and chests almost touching. He pulled away, buttering it in three swift strokes before cracking open the egg and slicing it in two, the yolk still runny. "One soft boiled phoenix egg to go." He announced, but his heart wasn't in it. He put the plate down on the table. "And make sure you give it to an middle aged toffee or something, they think I sneak into the Kingdom at night and try to poison their food with my disgusting death hands, I'm totally the boogeyman they check under their beds for at night."

Gumball's eyes were cold, his face expressionless. He took the plate in his hands. "I didn't start that rumor."

Marshall shot him a look of pure disbelief. "Yeah, right, and I haven't been dead for a thousand years." His eyes flickered back up to Gumball. "Look man, if you wanted me to appear under your bed that badly you could've just told me to my face."

"Can you stop?" Bubba cut him off, his hand falling down on top of his before he had time to register what he was doing. "Just for a minute, can you stop drilling me? I know you came here just to be petty, but for once can you just quit being so pathetic?"

Marshall slipped his hand out from under his grasp, his eyes burning. "Stop, huh? How about you stop pretending you didn't stop talking to me?"

"You stopped first." Gumball shot back, but deep down inside, he knew it wasn't true.

Marshall, for one, knew it definitely wasn't true. "Whatever makes you sleep at night."

"Also can you tell your Mom to stop sending me salamander skins?" Gumball asked, his voice heated. "I've been sending them to Flame Prince but he doesn't want them anymore. There's no more room in the dungeon and they stink."

Marshall slapped a hand over his chest, where his heart should be. "And break an old woman's heart? Glob, she spends, like, seven hours a day peeling those skins just for you, where do you get off?" He shrugged. "But sure," he cleared his throat. "Hey Mom!" He started, Gumball sighing. "Bubba says he's got enough skins to make all of Aaa a handbag each, quit shanking fire lizards all day!' Now he took on an elderly woman's voice, his words scratchy. _"'Well jeez, son! The sugar prince isn't as sweet as I thought, who knew?'"_

Gumball waved a hand as if he were shooing a fly. "Just go get your brunch."

Marshall rose from his feet, floating up in the air again. "Hope it's strawberry pancakes, you know, my favorite."

Gumball returned to his notes, seemingly uninterested but his eyebrow seemed to twitch. "Don't get your hopes up."

"Dude, I can literally smell them from here."

"It's strawberry season," Gumball huffed, drumming his fingers on the table. "I didn't make them for you!"

Marshall rolled his eyes. "And I'm made of sugar," he sighed. "But for real, is that raspberry syrup?"

Gumball raised a hand, trying to catch the attention of the next patron. "Next please!"

"You know, the one that takes three days to make cause it's so complex." Marshall pressed.

"I SAID NEXT PLEASE!"

Marshall clicked his tongue, making his way to the end of the stage, holding up finger guns at Gumball. "Stay classy, Bubbs. I expect that mystery prize mailed to the Nightosphere in a week's time."

Gumball sighed. "Keep dreaming."

"Nice highlighter, by the way." Marshall added in farewell as he made to get off the stage. "It's nice to have friends who give you shit."

Gumball didn't respond, scrawling something down on his page, Marshall left without further comment, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

No sooner than Marshall had ghosted off the stage, Cake was bounding up the steps to Bubba's side, screeching to a stop just before him. The sour look on Gumball's face dissipated, a warmer, kinder look gracing his features as he passed Cake an egg, eager to sink her teeth into this entry competition.

Fionna watched her from the line, her eyes still on Gumball, curious.

She wasn't sure what had just transpired between him and Marshall but it hadn't looked good.

Even though she hadn't been able to make sense of their words from where she stood in the line, just a little too far away, and over the constant babble of the crowd, she had no doubt in her mind that they had been bickering and she didn't care who'd started it.

For the most part, Gumball and Marshall got along okay, if that was really the word for it. They weren't really enemies but she wouldn't exactly call them friends either. Their relationship transcended normality, whatever they had between them was different, special, and for some reason or another, it seemed to always encourage arguing between them.

She could've poured over Gumball and Marshall for hours but the very idea was cut short when a shrill whisper just a little ways in front of her caught her attention. " _Dude, is that the Ice Queen?"_

 _Ice Queen?_

 _Here?_

What possible business could she have being here on a day like this?

At an event like this?

Now another voice spoke, their words wobbling with fear. _"It's gotta be! Who else carries penguins around like that in the Kingdom?"_

 _Okay_ , now she'd heard enough.

Fi started to search, trying not to give in to the quickening of her heart in her breast, the tightening feeling in her chest making her breathing fast and shallow, as if she was being encased by an elastic band.

She was already reaching for her sword when she finally laid eyes on her, her hands halfway around her back fiddling with the sheath strapped to her waist, when Simona swam into view some way to her right, around 3 'o clock.

She was standing in front of a small cluster of people, people she assumed must've already taken the entry challenge and passed because with a shock, she realized she recognized their faces, these were people she knew.

First, lumpy space prince, floating a considerable distance off the ground as he usually did, his face donned with makeup, barely able to open his eyes through the multiple layers of mascara that threatened to glue them shut. He was making sweeping motions with his arms, recounting a tale of his infamous ' _hardships'_ to some poor unfortunate, who was probably ready to run for the hills, or sleep.

She realized she recognized the ' _unfortunate_ ' too. It was hard to misplace a mop of flame red hair gelled up into a mohawk, especially when said hair was surrounded by twinkling embers, dancing in the lazy breath of the morning breeze. And literally made of fire. So yet again, Marshall had been right, Flame Prince was here and he'd actually made it through.

Fionna had mixed feelings about that, finally having her and Fp in the same place after being apart for so long. Maybe it was best to avoid him for just a little while longer, until she could think of something to say. And besides, he'd made her wait, well and truly, what was another few days?

Slowly, her eyes progressed through the group and she was greeted with the likes of Tail Tufts, Lord Monochromicorn, Turtle Prince, and even some faces that surprised her, like Cinnamon Bun.

As far as she could see, Marshall hadn't joined them and had probably made his way straight over to brunch, looking for a snack and possibly alone time.

But Ice Queen was here and she was living it up with her friends and for whatever reason, they seemed totally happy about it, laughing and dancing under a flurry of snowflakes manifesting from thin air as her hands willed.

A sudden thought struck Fionna and she felt a cold feeling of dread unfold in her stomach. If Ice Queen was with hopefuls who'd already passed the entry challenge and made it into the competition, could that possibly mean she was a competitor too?

"Bravo, Icy!" Lsp clapped, his voice luxuriously grand. He twirled under the snowflakes, catching one on his tongue. "Such skill for the elemental arts! I can't wait to see what you'll bring to the table in the competition!"

 _Well, that pretty much sealed the deal._

But Ice Queen or not, Fionna couldn't just launch herself at her now. She'd lose her place in the line and Cake would have to come find her, and that meant more time waiting for brunch.

And as much as the Ice Queen was her enemy, she didn't seem to be doing anything particularly wrong right now, and looking over at Gumball, he didn't seem to be too concerned either.

Maybe he just hadn't noticed.

As impossible as it sounded, the guy was still half asleep after all, and the Ice Queen was mad evil. But still, he'd come face to face with her and let her through.

But competitor or not, she was definitely not here to do anyone good.

And what have Kade and Van said at the gates about Gumball increasing security? About being paranoid and thinking someone might potentially try to sabotage his big competition?

Without a doubt, Ice Queen was entering, she'd passed and she was here to stay, but it didn't mean she had to go through unsupervised, ready to wreck havoc at every turn.

"Next, please!" Came Gumball's voice cutting through her thoughts.

There was only one way she could go about this. Terrible chef or not, what choice did she have? It was her sworn duty to protect Aaa and the Candy Kingdom and all the citizens who resided across their lands, especially from threats like the Ice Queen.

Fionna approached the podium, her feet moving on her own accord, her hands falling down on the table as Gumball eyed her with surprise.

As crazy and totally not thought through as this plan was, it had to be done.

She had to compete as a contestant.

"Ah, Fionna!" Gumball greeted, rushing to his feet. His face was lit up with surprise and one of his hands shot out to grip her shoulder. "I didn't know you baked!"

Fi tried to relax her features, to forget about Ice Queen for a second and give Gumball her undivided time. If Gumball knew she was up to something he'd tell Cake, and neither wanted this opportunity wasted over a ' _wild goose chase',_ even though it was far from it.

Fionna smiled, trying to ignore the fact that Gumball was touching her, his warm hand on her t-shirt sleeve. "Ah, yeah, totally!" She chimed, trying to sound as casual as possible. She knew he was just being polite. Whereas the pretty pink cream puffs Prince Gumball so often brought around to the treehouse were both perfect and delicious, the one time Fionna had tried to return the favor had ended with Gumball in her kitchen covered in marshmallow goo and gagging. "Spatulas and spoons and stuff, right down my avenue!"

Gumball returned her smile but seemed a little critical. She hoped he wasn't remembering the marshmallow goo incident too. "Well, anyone's open to try!" ' _Try'?_ Fionna thought to herself with a wince. _Oh brother!_ Gumball squeezed her shoulder and Fi felt her heart squeeze with it, but thankfully he decided it was a good time to set down the rules, showing her to the stove. "It's pretty simple really, all you have to do is boil a single phoenix egg for me to prove you've got at least the basic stuff to bake in the newly refurbished Candy Kingdom kitchen." He paused, looking up at her through his thick eyelashes, the glitter on his cheeks making him glimmer like a disco ball, but way prettier. "Do you think you could do that for me?"

Fionna cursed, hoping to dear glob that Gumball mistook the blush that no doubt was flushing her face for sunburn. Even though she'd told Cake time and time again she wasn't interested in boys, she had always been interested in Gumball, and that was putting it lightly.

Gumball had always been cute and polite and mild mannered and lovely. He was perfect and she'd jumped at the opportunity to date him when Ice Queen had donned him as a disguise, and she was reminded why she had to do this.

Ice Queen was up to no good, she couldn't ever let someone else go through the things she had put her through.

She nodded with renewed drive, and she was sure Gumball could see the flames in her eyes. "Yeah." She said resolutely, her hands turning on the stove, the water starting to ' _boil_ ' immediately.

Gumball nodded, passing her the salt. Fi took it in her hands, eyeing him questioningly, but his attention was directed on his notes.

Marshall had said that adding the salt was part of the challenge but Gumball had just up and handed it to her.

He really was tired.

He glanced at her briefly, his face lighting up for a moment before turning back to the paper in his hands, the expression falling. "And maybe hard boiled if you could?" He suggested, his tone light. "I've got a swiss roll who doesn't like runny yolks."

Fionna blinked, shaking the salt into the pot. It was starting to disturb her how many times Marshall had been right today.

She tried not to let her curious expression betray her, directing her eyes to the pot. "Yeah, sure!" But again, she wondered how it wad possible Marshall had become so invested in Gumball and how he worked. She knew how observant he could be, she should probably leave it at that.

Fionna was taken aback at how quickly the water ' _boiled_ ', dropping the egg into the water after less than a minute and Gumball making a noise of approval. "Very well done!" He scribbled down a note on the paper. "The others might have to keep an eye on you, we might have a real dark horse here!"

And by that he meant everyone knew she totally sucked, but she knew he hadn't meant it that way. Maybe he was just remembering the time she'd brought trifle to the annual Candy Kingdom disco party and instead of adding sugar to the cake parts of it, she'd added salt, almost killing Flame Prince in the process. You know, she actually wasn't that surprised he was avoiding her.

"Oh yeah," Fi laughed, ducking her head. "Fionna the human, future winner of the grand mystery prize!"

Gumball's face lit up, waving his hands about excitedly. It was seriously a crime someone could be so cute. "You heard about that? I can't lie, it's amazing, it took two months of squabbling with some giants just to get it here to the Candy Kingdom!" He paused, a look of realization passing through his eyes. "Not that it was acquired by giants, no, of course not!"

But Fi's eyes were already sparkling, her mouth hanging open in amazement.

 _Acquired by giants?_

Okay, now she had two reasons to try and stay in the competition as long as possible.

She slammed a fist down on the table, Gumball flinching slightly at the sound but Fi didn't mind. This mystery prize sounded _awesome! "_ Guess I'll have to blow out the competition then!" She announced, adrenaline already pumping through her veins. Gumball recollected himself and smiled, looking kind of excited too. Maybe he was happy she was entering, that'd be a nice thought. Fionna felt the blush return, the mystery prize pushed to the back of her mind. Might be time to exit stage right. She lifted a thumb, directing it over her shoulder. "I'm gonna head, Cake and Marshall are probably already eating brunch." It seemed like a good enough excuse and she was famished. "It smells amazing!"

Gumball smile widened and he gave a little bow. "Cooked by yours truly, pancakes."

Fionna's stomach growled, her mouth starting to water again. "Sweet!" _Pancakes sounded amazing right now!_ "I think those pancakes are totally calling my name, so I'll catch you later!"

Gumball nodded, giving her one last smile as Fionna turned on her heel, almost falling over in the process but not caring because a mystery prize and pancakes sounded like an amazing combo! She wasn't even too concerned about the Ice Queen right now.

Fionna was at the end of the stage, readying herself to jump off when a hand touched the back of her arm, halting her in her tracks.

"Fionna?" A soft voice asked and Fionna didn't need to turn around to know who it belonged to.

She did anyways, finding herself face to face with Gumball, his body close. This was the closest they'd stood in a long time and she didn't know why, but the possibility of him hugging her raced through her teenage brain. She swallowed hard. "Yes?" She heard herself say as if from a distance, forcing the words out of her mouth.

Gumball's hand traced down her arm, feather light. He leant in close, his mouth just above her ear. Fionna swore she was going to have a heart attack.

He started to whisper, his words accompanied by warm breath that fanned her skin, making her shiver. "Just before you go, I thought I might mention that Ice Queen is also entering the competition." The illusion was shattered and Fionna was glad Gumball couldn't see her expression as she pulled a face, disappointed. Gumball continued, "As a competitor, I know you have a history together and it's not always easiest to get along, but as much as it feels strange to say it the Ice Queen's here for some friendly competition too."

An extended pause followed the Prince's words and Fionna knew he didn't believe his own words himself. She for one didn't.

He drew away and part of Fi wished it'd lasted longer. It'd be an eternity before he did something like that again.

With a start, Fi realized he was expecting her to say something, his eyes flickering over her face. Fionna nodded a little too rapidly, raising a hand to her brow, giving a salute. "I'll keep an eye on her, shouldn't be too hard to juggle!"

Gumball sighed as if he'd been holding his breath. "If you could." His voice sounded lighter, like he was relieved. "One Price Gumball is enough."

Fionna's stomach churned, her eyes looking deeply into Gumball's. That moment had been as perfect as it ever could've been, she wished he hadn't mentioned it.

"YO, PRINCE GUMBALL AND, UH, ADVENTURE GIRL!" Came a voice, grating and obnoxious.

"It's Fionna!" Fionna yelled back without taking her eyes off Gumball.

The voice made a raspberry blowing sound with his tongue and from the sound of it, Fi was sure he'd covered half the line in spit. "WHATEVER! LET'S JUST KEEP THE LINE MOVING, OKAY?"

Fionna sighed, "He's right, I should go." She tried to brighten up, straightening her posture and putting some bounce in her step. "Point me in the direction of brunch please!" She requested, trying to keep her voice light.

Gumball pointed over her head. "On the spearmint lawn just outside the second set of Candy Kingdom gates, you know the one, just head right." Fionna nodded, jumping off the stage, Gumball calling out after her in farewell. "I can't wait to taste your food!"

Fionna grimaced and hoped to Glob he wasn't being serious. Too bad she wasn't entering to show off her culinary skills.

Thankfully, the spearmint lawn wasn't too far away. If you ran, it was less than a five minute trip, which of course, Fionna did, her stomach just about ready to consume itself.

The spearmint lawn itself looked identical to the one at the gates she'd seen nestled behind Kade and Van, except this one was flourishing with a small group of people, Lsp, Ice Queen, Tail Tufts, Flame Prince, Turtle Prince, Cinnamon Bun, Cake, Lord Mochro, and Marshall, who was waving at her from the front of the brunch line, brunch itself consisting of a neatly made up table covered in trays of steaming hot pancakes, raspberry syrup, fluffy clouds of cream, maple syrup and freshly picked strawberries.

Fionna joined him, the others too invested in talking to other contestants to care, Cake and Mochro nowhere to be seen and Ice Queen on the far side of the lawn, explaining a pancake magic trick to Cinnamon Bun, Flame Prince and Lumpy Space Prince.

She hi-fived him as she joined his side, her eyes trained on the food. Marshall handed her a plate, already heaping strawberries onto his. "Saved you a spot."

Fionna dove into the whipped cream, slapping down three pancakes on top of it, dousing them in maple syrup. "Line cutting twice in one day?" She scolded playfully, as she spooned raspberry syrup over her enormous breakfast. "You are a bad little boy."

Marshall chuckled. "But not little." It might not have sounded so sleazy if he hadn't of winked as he said it.

"Ewww." Fionna groaned, taking a plastic fork and knife in her hands. She was kind of surprised he brought it up actually, considering that little spontaneous rap had ended with her socking him one in the face.

As Marshall reached for an already made cup of black coffee, his fingers brushed Fionna's wrist, pointing towards a huge oak tree just off to the right she hadn't seen on her way in. "Sit down there? I think we still got a fair bit of waiting to do."

Fionna nodded, knowing he meant Gumball and his line, but she got the feeling that everyone here from this moment were probably the only people getting through.

As she went to walk towards the oak, Fi eyed the coffee, heavily considering it for a second even though she didn't need it. The last time she'd drunk the stuff she'd insulted Huntress Wizard's Mom to his face. She decided against it, proceeding to the tree, where Marshall was already sitting down, snatching food from his plate, which consisted only of strawberries.

She set herself down beside him, one of his once red strawberries fading to grey between his lips. She brought her legs to her chest, her breakfast resting on her knees as she tore into it, food going everywhere. If she'd been sitting next to anyone but Marshall, Fionna was sure she would've scared them off. Thankfully, Marshall was very used to her eating habits.

As she ate, she took the time to go over this morning's events thus far, and it'd been a pretty epic day. First, waking up at five to get to this competition, and then hitting the road and running into Marshall who joked about tree spirits and fairy truffles. From there, meeting Kade and Van and finally getting a free pass into the Candy Kingdom with entry slips ( _which she'd have to chase up with GB later now that she thought about it_ ), line cutting, fawning over Gumball, spotting Ice Queen and getting pancakes.

Fi paused mid-chew. She looked across the lawn, to where she'd seen Ice Queen sitting when she'd come through, still with Lsp, Cinnamon Bun and Fp. She frowned, she didn't know what those guys saw in her, especially Fp. She'd literally tried to turn him into an icicle! She almost had the cheek to march over and ask but she couldn't blow her cover. As far as she knew, Iq didn't know she'd made it through, and even though that illusion would be all but shattered tomorrow, she wanted to cling to it as long as possible. She knew what the Ice Queen was capable of.

Yet again, she had to wonder, why she was even here?

It was eating away at her, maybe she should ask around and see what the others had to say about her. It didn't actually seem like a bad idea, but maybe Ice Queen had already won them over with her magic and their words would be swayed over by snowflakes.

Well, it'd been good in theory.

Wait, what was she thinking? She literally had one of the most opinionated but level-headed guys sitting next to her right now!

She snuck a sideways glance at Marshall, happily eating his breakfast. The guy came from the Nightosphere, he was half demon, surely he'd know about villains, and everyone knew about the Ice Queen.

She had to ask. "Hey Marshall, did you know Ice Queen was entering?" She tried to ask him inconspicuously. It kinda helped that her eyes had found and were trained on Cake, whispering something in Lord Monochromicorn's ear as he pawed at the ground. She got why she hadn't greeted her at the table now.

Thankfully, Marshall didn't seem to think much of it and it was times like this when Fi was thankful for his easy going demeanor. "Well I'm not surprised, Simona makes a mean egg salad." He drained the last traces of red out of the strawberry and threw it onto the grass. "Can't help but think she uses penguin eggs though." He shuddered and made a face. "Urgh."

" _Simona?"_ she echoed, her mind suddenly feeling very foggy. " _Egg salad?_

Marshall grinned, lifting his arms up behind his head. "She uses this iceberg lettuce that's literally shards of ice but tastes just like lettuce. Insane, huh?"

Fionna's mind started to jumble. If he'd had dinner with the Ice Queen that meant one of two things. One, that she'd been around to the lake house, which was feasible in it's own way but still hard to believe because she was such a shut in. Or two, Marshall had had dinner at her's, which only meant one thing.

"You've been to the Ice Kingdom?"

"Um, yeah?" The way he said it, it sounded more like a question. He sounded confused but didn't seem confused about her prying, Marshall had gotten used to her asking loads of questions about his personal life, he was (future) King of the Nightosphere after all. It was just that she seemed _worried?_ "The Ice Kingdom's not dangerous, Fi." He reassured. He plucked another strawberry from his plate. "And neither is Simona. I've been to places that makes that icicle look like a joke." He placed the fruit in his mouth, the red flesh bruising beneath his fangs. He knew how she felt about the Ice Queen, better to play it cool. "You know, it's actually her penguins you got to worry about. One of them's called Gunter, and he's about yay high and he is absolutely-"

But Fionna cut him off, "No, Marshall," Marshall suppressed a groan. It was clear his efforts had been wasted. Simona was the Ice Queen and the Ice Queen was Fionna's enemy. Guess you can't make a zebra cake change it's stripes. "You talk about her like she's your buddy or something." She leant in close, like she was waiting for him to slip up, to spill the beans.

Marshall always knew this day would come, when he'd have to tell Fionna about Simona and him, but not so soon and not in a place like this.

It's not like it was a big deal to him or anything, he wasn't ashamed of Simona and he was even opening to admitting that he probably loved her, she'd been more of a mother to him than his actual Mom had even been.

Still, he tried to play it cool.

He raised an eyebrow, trying to keep his expression as blasé as possible. "Well, kinda?" He hummed and paused as if he was thinking about it. "She kinda is." Fi's face was right in his face. He could feel her breath fanning over his cheek and chin. _Time to drop the bombshell,_ he thought to himself. _It's now or never Marshy._ "I mean, Simona raised me."

Like one of his strawberries, all the color drained from Fi's face. _Well, fuck_ , Marshall thought, reaching out and grabbing Fi's hand without really thinking about it.

" _What?"_ Fi croaked. She'd meant to sound shocked, angry even, but all that left her throat was a hoarse whisper.

Okay, now he was worried.

She looked really spooked, but he guessed hearing that your best friend's adoptive Mom is also your mortal enemy could do that to a person. "Fi, relax. It's fine."

Fionna tried to recollect her thoughts in the catatonic mess that had become her mind.

She had a lot of questions and Marshall's eyes boring into her wasn't helping at all.

She opted to ask her most burning one.

"What do you mean she raised you? She's evil!" And it was the truth. Fionna couldn't imagine the Ice Queen taking anyone under her wing, she didn't even treat her penguins like living beings.

"And I'm not?" He asked softly. Fionna's heart skipped a beat and she opened her mouth to gush a string of what would most definitely be an incomprehensible collection of thoughts, but Marshall pushed on, his eyes never leaving her's. "Simona didn't always used to be this way, the real Simona looks different to the Ice Queen. She was different to the Ice Queen." As Marshall spoke his face seemed shrouded by lines, it was only when he talked like this that he seemed older, much older, and Fionna was reminded of his lack of mortality. "She picked me up when I was a kid straight out of the Nightosphere, no place to call home, back when she was a-"

"Back when she was a water nymph." Fionna gasped, her hands flying to her face. Last summer Fionna had finally learnt the truth of the Ice Queen's fate. Magical objects were not to be messed with. "So you know about Cake?" Is that why he always picked on her and tried to start something? Because Marshall was so loyal to the Ice Queen and Cake had left her to become a monster after she found the tiara?

It was one of the few times Fionna had seen him looked shocked. "What about Cake?"

"Forget it!" She spluttered.

"Okay?" Yet again, he sounded unsure but he left it there. Marshall had learnt not to mess around with Fi too much, she could get into a state pretty quick. "It's fine, Fionna. She's actually pretty rad once you get to know her.

"No, it's just-" Fionna stopped mid sentence and shot Marshall a hungry look. "This means you can help me! Like why is she really here, Marshall?"

"Jeez, Fi! Simona's cool, you don't need to obsess over her!" Fi shot him a confused look. Usually he jumped at the chance to get some dirt on some poor unfortunate. "It's like you entered just to stalk her or something." Fi lapsed into silence, fidgeting under his gaze. Marshall's eyes widened. "You did!" He accused, jousting a finger at her. "You so did, didn't you?"

Fionna waved her hands in front of her chest. "She was acting suspicious!" She tried to reason. Marshall was seriously not getting the severity of this situation.

But it seemed Marshall was already adamant, running his hands through his hair, ready to jump to conclusions. "Bubba put you up to this, didn't he?"

Technically, he hadn't, and it irked her that Marshall was so quick to throw Gumball to the wolves.

She waved a finger in front of his face, just above his nose. "After you and Cake did the entry challenge, I saw her whilst I was standing in line and I changed my mind." He really wasn't getting it. She waved her arms about, as if it might better prove her point. "She's the Ice Queen, Marshall!

But her words fell on deaf ears, or rather superior vampire ears that just weren't having it. "Or maybe she's just here to bake?" He reasoned. "She's allowed to have hobbies too."

This was seriously getting nowhere. She didn't know why he was so hung up on this. She fisted her fingers in her fringe, tugging on it frustrated. "Why are you defending her?"

"Why are you so against her?" Marshall rebutted, studying her face with a prying closeness.

Fionna's mouth fell open. Had those words really just come out of his mouth? "I stop her villainous plans every day of the week! Kicking her butt has become my job!"

But Marshall stood firm, his face unreadable. "But what has she ever done to you personally?"

She was on her feet before she'd even had time to think about it, but thankfully her voice remained under control, an aggravated hiss. "Gee, I don't know, Marshall!" She spat, and everything seemed to pour out. She said the words before she could stop herself, falling from her tongue like acid. "How about dressing up as the boy you like, taking you upstairs all alone to his bedroom and trying to kill you!"

Marshall face blanked, then shifted to something resembling anger, before melting away to what looked like a sullen expression. "She did that to you?" He asked quietly, his fingers finding her forearm, easing her back into a sitting position.

Fionna tried to stay angry, use it to her advantage, have the upper hand for once. But Marshall looked so worried, so concerned, she couldn't stay mad. "Yes." She sighed heatedly, but allowed Marshall to guide her back to the grassy ground. "And she's done so much worse, you just haven't been around to see it."

Marshall's face was unreadable, sometimes it could be so hard to know what he was thinking, to see into his head.

After a pregnant pause, he faced Fi, his fingers still feeling her arm absentmindedly. "Do you still like him?" The question was so sudden, so softly spoken, that at first Fi wasn't sure she'd heard him right.

Her face contorted in confusion. "Who?"

Marshall paused, as if was reconsidering, but sighed, meeting Fionna's eyes. "Gumball."

A implacable wave of emotions washed over Fionna's being and she felt angry, annoyed and upset all at once. "Are you kidding me right now? That's the only part of this conversation you have an issue with?"

Marshall opened his mouth to add something but seemed to actually reconsider it this time, closing it and thinking for a second. He'd dropped the subject but his face was painted with emotions, and she didn't know why but it made her heart leap. "Fionna, I promise you that I'm at least sixty eight percent sure she's not here to wreck havoc."

He'd spoken softly, his words gentle, but Fi was still feeling bitter about the whole Gumball thing, rolling her eyes. "Wow, I feel so much better!"

Marshall sighed, his fingertips pressing one last time into her flesh before dropping to his lap. He sat up straight, his half eaten breakfast still on his plate, his eyes surprisingly serious. "If she's getting you that worked up, I'll keep an eye on her too." He held up a black clad fist. "Two heads are better than one, right?"

Fi hesitated, there was something in his words, the way he said them that peaked her attention, made her think. She could tell he felt sorry for her, maybe he even had feelings for her as his foster Mom that still remained, forgotten by ' _Simona_ ' and reminiscent of the Ice Queen.

Either way, having Marshall on her side was way better than having no one. Fionna's fist bumped into Marshall's lightly, stealing a strawberry from his plate. "Not if one of them's a knucklehead."

Marshall gave a breathy laugh. "Whatever, bunny brain." He held out a pinkie. "Truce?"

Fionna stuffed the strawberry into her mouth, interlocking her finger with his. "Truce." That seemed fair enough.

They sat in silence for a few moments, drinking up each other's company and packing away the last traces of food on their plates.

Fi soaked up the sun, feeling she was in her best mood since she'd woken up this morning when Marshall turned to her and asked seriously, "Also how are you going to stay in the competition long enough to make sure she's not getting up to no good? When you said you weren't entering, is it because you don't like to cook or because you can't?"

It all hit her at once. In her desperation, she really hadn't thought this through. " _Crap_!" She cried, her hands slapping into her cheeks. "I didn't think of that!" She turned to Marshall, a crazy look in her eyes, and for a moment, she thought she was going to shake him. "What am I going to tell Gumball and Cake?"

"Can't you just tell her that you're entering to tail the Ice Queen?" Marshall asked, his words level, as if he was trying to have enough chill for the both of them. "She'd understand, right?"

Fionna shook her head frantically. "As much as Cake hates the Ice Queen, she doesn't want me to turn this whole thing into a wild goose chase. So far, Ice Queen hasn't done anything yet to prove she's up to no good, it pains me to say it."

Marshall paused, and Fionna studied his face, a thousand looks passing over it before he settled for a sigh, fixing her with a dead serious look. "Alright, listen up, Fi. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret and I'm only gonna say it the once because this shit is next level classified." Fi's mind raced with the possibilities but her excitement was quickly dashed when Marshall nodded in Flame Prince's direction. "Remember our old pal Flame Prince? He has a major crush on you."

Really, she should have pretended to act surprised, but this was such old news to her.

And as far as she knew, Marshall didn't know they'd dated.

She settled for a well practiced eye roll. "Marshall, please." Also was Fp really telling the other guys about their fiery, albeit brief, romance? She didn't take him for the oversharing type.

But Marshall shook his head, he was serious. "Hear me out. He likes you, but he made us all promise not to tell you."

Fionna raised an eyebrow. "Who's us?"

Marshall placed a hand on his chest. "All the princes of Aaa plus me. We hold a royal sleepover once a month, it's like boys' night but way more intense." Fi swore he shuddered. "Three months ago we had to take Turtle prince to the hospital cause Lumpy Space Prince hit him so hard during a pillow fight he lost two teeth. But yeah, fire dude spilt his guts during truth or dare."

Even though it wasn't much of a secret, something still wasn't adding up. "That's impossible." Fionna said with a shake of her head. "I would've known by now, half the princes I know can't keep a secret and Lsp definitely would've spilt the beans." After the words left her mouth, she fixed him with a prying look. "And you guys didn't invite me?"

"Fionna, truth or dare is serious business. He made us swear a royal oath not to tell anybody. And trust me, you don' want to come." Suddenly, Marshall's face became ashen. "Hotdog prince bathes in hot dog water and it stinks."

Fi shuddered, but she still needed answers. "But if he made all of you swear a royal oath how come you're telling me this now?"

With a swift motion of his wrist, he formed the letter _P_ with his hands. _"'Let us, the great princes of Aaa, never let this secret fall on suspecting ears',"_ he motioned towards himself, a sly smile stretching across his face. "Only I'm not a prince."

Okay, that shouldn't have surprised her. Marshall was an expert at finding contingencies in anything and everything.

She clapped her hands twice, her voice hinted with sarcasm. "Clever, but how is this going to help me ' _keep_ ' my ' _promise_ '?"

"Tell her you entered to try and impress him." Marshall said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Maybe if Flame Prince sees how amazing your cooking is he'll ask you out on a date for sure." His eyes flickered between her and Flame Prince, and Fionna suddenly felt like she was naked. "You guys don't have history, right?"

Fionna's face blanked. "Uhhhh…" She groaned, it was all she could manage.

Marshall looked curious but didn't press it any further. "Look, he doesn't have to know, it's not important. As long as you're fooling Cake you're golden. So just tell her you think you like him and-"

"But I've told Cake a million times I don't want a boyfriend." Fionna cut in. It was a flaw they just couldn't seem to account for no matter how they went about this.

Marshall's eyes glimmered. "But sometimes when the right guy comes along…" He trailed off hopefully, his eyes fixed on Fi's.

It wasn't perfect but it'd have to do. Cake could buy her entering a baking comp to get back with Flame Prince, right? "Okay, I'll admit, it's a good plan." Fionna admitted. But there was still one minor problem. "Except for the fact that I really can't cook!"

Marshall went to open his mouth to say something when a loudspeaker sounded, Gumball's voice ringing out over the court yard. "Attention residents of Aaa and the Candy Kingdom! Sorting is now over and we have our contestants! If you could please make your way down to the Kingdom gates I'll introduce you all to this year's bakers and tell you what this competition is all about!" The speaker crackled, something on Bubba's end rustling over the microphone. "Gumball over and out!"

A panicked look crossed Fionna's face.

 _Sorting was already over?_

She thought they still had hours to go!

"That was quick." Said Marshall, apparently thinking the same. "Guess Wad's cuttin' corners or somethin'." Marshall shrugged. "Well, whatever, looks like that's our cue." He stood, extending a hand to Fi. "You coming, carrots?"

Before she had time to protest, Marshall was leading her towards the gates, her hand his. "Come on Fionna," he reasoned, his voice oddly reassuring. "Your cooking can't be that bad, right?" He lead her down the hill where the others were already gathering, everyone looking over the moon except for her. "Comp starts tomorrow, you have until tomorrow to work something out, it'll be fine."

Fi nodded glumly, wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

What Marshall was saying was all good and well but he had never tasted her food.

She could see it in the headlines now, a breaking news story, _'local adventuress posions entire kingdom.'_

She walked towards the gates, trying to keep her head held heigh.

 _It was going to be a long week._

 **OoOoOoOoOo**

 **A/N: And scene! Thank you to everyone who's supporting this story and taking the time to read my work! Everyone on this site hopes to give at least someone something nice to read, so if I have supplied you with that and you enjoyed it, lemme know!**

 **Just a heads up, this fic will probably swing in a Gumlee direction (cause who doesn't like Gumlee?) but if you wanna see other pairings in this fic, lemme know through a review or pm and I may be able to spot ya your ship!**

 **Once again, thanks and I'll see you in the next chapter! ~KennBoKenn.**


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